


Burnout

by stormstains



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Firefighter AU, Kinda, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Polyamory, Slow Burn, hunk and lance are EMTs, keith and allura are firefighters, more tags to come if i ever get better at tagging, self destructive keith, shiro matt pidge and coran are cops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-09-23 16:36:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9665795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormstains/pseuds/stormstains
Summary: Keith has a death wish and his entire department knows it.Running back into the flames of cleared buildings as if he's looking for a way to die a hero.The way his detective friend did.But the EMT with the pretty blue eyes hasn't given up on him just yet.And oddly enough... neither has the dead detective...Updates every other Saturday~





	1. Death Wish

The first time it had happened Keith hadn’t paid much attention to the fussing of the EMTs.

They always fussed, at least in his opinion. Going on about how he nearly died running back into the blaze just to prove a point, how he should be a little more level-headed.

He drew in another breath of oxygen and let their nagging go in one ear and out the other.

Keith would hear more of the same from the Captain later tonight. He didn’t need to be lectured now by a couple of mother hens who should have been more worried about the people he and the other firemen had pulled from the flames.

 

The second time it had happened the EMTs were silent. Treating his burns without a word.

 

The third time they didn’t bother to touch him at all. Letting him sulk on the curb of another apartment building that had turned to ash.

 

When it happened for the fourth time he expected more of the same. To be treated like a lost cause until Allura, his captain, pulled him aside back at the fire station and tried to talk to him about what she called his ‘death wish.’

Instead there was a muted thump as a medical bag hit the curb beside him. And a set of cold fingers laminated in latex grasping his wrist.

“Now, I hope you don’t have a latex allergy…” The latex gloves gave way to brown skin about the wrists before the color was swallowed up again by the fabric of an EMT uniform further up the man’s arm. “Because then you would be screwed… Hunk!”

“Yeah bud?” Another man began idling towards where Keith sat at the first’s call.

“Let’s get some oxygen here, he needs something clean in his lungs,”

“Coming right up.”

Keith took a moment to gather his thoughts, blinking over at the large hawaiian man who was now approaching him with an oxygen tank and a mask. “Deep breaths,” he instructed, smiling down at him.

Keith wouldn’t have been human if he could have refused that smile, and he accepted the mask without a word. Taking in breaths of air slowly before lifting his eyes towards the man still inspecting his arm.

He was pretty. Long legs nearly pressed to his chest as he sat on the curb and leaned forward just so to get a good look at Keith’s arm. The flashing lights of various emergency vehicles danced sporadic patterns on impossibly flawless brown skin, and when his eyes turned up to meet Keith’s…

“Blue…”

“What was that?” The EMT frowned a little and leaned forward to hear the word uttered lowly into the respiratory mask, and Keith blinked rapidly.

“You-! Don’t… have to do that,” he recovered, removing the mask. “I’m fine.”

The man was pouting then. Sweeping those blue eyes up and down Keith’s singed suit disbelievingly. “I was one of the original first responders here,” he replied. “I saw them call the building clear, and I saw you run back in anyway so I’ll be damned if I don’t make sure you’re not hurt.”

“What’s it to you?” Keith asked him, suddenly defensive.

The EMT seemed unphased by his tone. “It’s… I dunno… my job?” He looked over at his friend. “It is our job, right Hunk? We didn’t just steal these uniforms and the equipment and drive on over to the scene of the fire to play rescue like a couple of kids I mean…”

“I dunno man I’m pretty sure this is our job…” Hunk replied solemnly. “Unless this is some weird alternate reality and none of this is real and in that case I have some interesting theories-”

“Dude not now we’re at the scene of a fire,” the pretty one cut him off, and Hunk made a face.

“Yep, okay, that’s fair.” He nodded, nudging the arm Keith was using to hold the oxygen mask gently. “Go on, keep going.”

Keith glared a moment. Looking away when Hunk’s kind smile didn’t lessen and instead obeying without a word.

“See!” The pretty one beamed. His smile as brilliant Hunk’s had been impossible to refuse. “I told them we could get the angry one to sit still and be treated.”

“Lance don’t call him that it’s rude.”

Keith glared at the both of them from over the top of his mask, though they didn’t seem to notice.

Instead Lance began cleaning a nasty looking burn on Keith’s arm. Not looking up as he replied, “Like you weren’t thinking it.”

“Well… yeah but that doesn’t mean I have to say it,” Hunk huffed, passing his friend some kind of ointment just as the other opened his mouth to ask for it.

“He ran back into a building even after the all clear, he’s not just angry he’s reckless.” Lance gave a hard tug as he began bandaging the burn, and Keith winced. “Probably has a death wish too but that’s none of my business.”

“Did you just use a meme in casual conversation?”

“If my hands were free I’d be dabbing too.”

Keith snorted into his mask, having to pull it away to cough out a quiet fit of laughter. “Who the hell  _dabs_ while a building is still smoking in the background?” He asked.

Lance and Hunk looked at him as if the answer should have been obvious. “Me? Because a picture of me dabbing at the ruins of a freshly burnt building would look great on my insta?”

“Honestly dude you have so much to learn,” Hunk patted Keith’s shoulder.

“I don’t… think I want to learn anything from you two,” Keith told him. “You sound insane.”

Lance left off inspecting him for more burns and arched an eyebrow. “Says the guy who’s made a name for himself by running back into still burning buildings after the all clear signal has been given for no reason?”

“I-” Keith broke off, then fell silent. Lance smirked smugly.

“I thought so.” He lifted his arms as if to dab, and Keith fixed him with another glare.

“Don’t even think about it,” he warned, and Lance lowered his arms almost sulkily.

“Fine, fine. Mister moody firefighter.” He pointed to the bandaged burn on Keith’s arm. “Keep an eye on that. I’d tell you to go to the hospital to get something prescribed for it but I know you won’t so instead, keep it dry and change the bandages often. Got it?”

Keith looked away. “Yeah.”

Lance hopped up from the curb. “And next time we see you we better not be treating someone with a death wish.”

Hunk nodded, following his friends lead. “It really takes a toll on us medical guys.”

“I don’t have a death wish,” Keith snapped.

Hunk smiled down at him kindly. “How ‘bout you tell us that when it’s true, alright?”

Keith didn’t reply, and the two EMTs left without another word. Leaving him holding his bandaged arm to his side and staring down blankly at the concrete.

 

***

 

Keith knew he had a death wish.

It had started six months ago on the day he heard that the man who had been like a brother to him had turned up missing.

He had woken up to the news. Takashi Shirogane and his partner Matt Holt - undercover detectives from the police force who had been planted inside a quickly growing drug cartel - had missed their last seven call-ins.

From then on no one had been able to contact either of them, and the undercover unit in charge of taking down the cartel was quickly disbanded to avoid further casualties.

That’s what they called Shiro. A casualty. _Cowards_

Knowing he had a death wish was one of the reasons Keith didn’t bother trying to avoid Allura when they reached the fire station. Already knowing he was in for a lecture.

She knew he never listened, but she always followed through. Allura missed Shiro as much as he did, and she’d be damned if she let Keith get himself killed out of grief.

This lecture was more of the same. In one ear and out the other before he was dismissed.

His rotation was over, she told him. Go home and get some rest.

As if he could rest when his thoughts were on a constant loop of a missing friend, the heat of the flames and the cool touch of a boy with blue eyes.

He found his way to his shabby apartment before the disquiet of his thoughts could overwhelm him. Unlocking the door and stepping inside; not caring when the door slammed shut behind him.

He needed a hot shower, or a drink. Anything, really. So long as it burned.

Keith opted for the drink. Grasping a half empty bottle from the counter and vaguely realizing that he had bought the thing between his last two rotations.

 _I go through bottles too fast._ He thought.  _What a waste._

 

The liquor spilled over the rim of his glass as he poured but he couldn’t be bothered to care. Knocking the drink back in one go and making himself another before padding down the unlit hall towards his room.

 _No shower then._ He told himself dimly. He didn’t bother to shower much the days he was home.

The door to his room was cracked, and he pushed it open lazily. Padding inside and towards his bed with half closed eyes before stopping to take a decent look around.

Keith’s eyes found his bed, and the sleeping figure curled up beneath the blankets. His drink slipping from his hand to shatter on the wooden floor.

“ _Shiro?_ "


	2. Where Have You Been?

At first he only let himself notice the little things. The shock of white hair falling down against his forehead. A scar cutting a jarring line across the bridge of his nose. The way he had insisted on sitting facing the apartment’s front door; his eyes every so often flicking up as if to reassure himself that they were still alone. 

Keith only acknowledged the arm when he had to. When the clinking of metal against glass every time Shiro reached for his cup became too much for him to tune out. When the faint glow that shone from between the plating of the prosthetic in the dim light shone too brightly in his peripheral for him to keep looking away. 

“You haven’t said anything.”

At least his voice hadn’t changed. He thought, looking down at the amber liquid in his glass. 

He wasn’t sure when he had poured himself another drink, though he knew his reasoning behind it. 

If this was a drunken illusion he wanted it to last as long as possible. 

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say,” Keith admitted finally. “You’re… a very real figment of my imagination… I guess.”

A soft clunk as Shiro shifted his weight to lean his prosthetic elbow on the table. “I’d have to be for you to have been able to jump into my arms like you did earlier.”

Keith knocked back half of his drink and glared, didn’t respond.

“When did you start drinking so much?” Shiro asked him.

“When you died,” came the bitter retort as Keith refilled his glass. 

Shiro nearly flinched back at that, and he looked away. “I shouldn’t have left you…” He said softly. 

“Shouldn’t have left me,” Keith began angrily. “And Allura, and Coran.” Another glass of liquor disappeared behind his lips and he barely winced at the burn. “But i’m guessing you had a good excuse?” He said bitingly. “It is you, the great Shiro! You always have a good excuse.”

A metal hand covered Keith’s glass when the other moved to refill it. “Just listen,” Shiro said gently. “No more drinking, alright?” 

Keith stared down at the metallic fingers. “You asking as my big brother?” He asked almost mockingly.

“I’m asking as your friend.”

Keith set down the bottle, and Shiro used his organic hand to pull it away. “I left because Matt’s cover was blown and the drug syndicate we were investigating started holding him captive somewhere.”

“I thought both of you were caught.” Keith leaned forward to rest his chin on the table, staring across the table at Shiro blearily when the other shook his head.

“Matt must not have given me up because I managed to remain in deep cover,” Shiro replied. “But I knew that I’d have to cut off contact with the undercover unit if I wanted to find out where they took him so…”

“So you let everyone think you were dead to try and find your partner?” Keith finished for him, glaring. “And did you find him?”

“No.”

Keith opened his mouth, anger tensing the lines of his body only for Shiro to raise his hands appeasingly. “I stayed in deep cover and cut off connections because the undercover unit wasn’t going anywhere and they weren’t going to help Matt. So I started investigating myself. I stopped playing the part of a drug pusher and became one so I could keep looking into the Galra Syndicate.”

“You…” Keith blinked at him slowly. “You’re a snitch.”

“Well if you want to put it so eloquently-”

Keith cut him off. “Do you have what you need to bring them down?”

“Not yet,” admitted Shiro. “I got as far as I could and collected as much as I could on that  side of things. So I came back and asked to be reinstated.”

“You went and saw Coran before me?”

“Don’t give me that look Keith, you know how important this is.” 

Keith nodded moodily, tapping at the side of his glass before nodding his head towards  Shiro’s arm. “What happened?” He asked quietly.

Shiro raised the high-tech prosthetic almost as if he had forgotten about it. “A deal between the Galra Syndicate, the Yakuza and the Russian Mafia went sour. I was being held as collateral and they cut it off before my guys managed to get me back.” He curled and uncurled the intricate robotic fingers. “But we managed to pull the deal through anyway so one of the officers who works for the main boss rewarded me with this. Her crew apparently hijacked a high tech robotics shipment just to get this for me. Top of the line, first of it’s kind. It connects to the nerves to function like an organic limb.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Six months with those people and you talk about these things like it’s nothing,” he commented wryly. 

“I had been undercover for months already,” shrugged Shiro. “I had to get used to these things quickly or else…” he trailed off.

“Or else what?”

“Or else they would have found me out like they did Matt.” He looked down at his prosthetic limb. “I shouldn’t have let him be assigned to the Galra case, he wasn’t ready for it…”

“We both knew how he was,” Keith frowned. “He would have found a way onto that case whether you wanted him to or not.” 

“It’s my fault he’s out there somewhere being tortured or worse-”

“Shiro.” Keith’s voice had taken a sharp edge. “Remember the last time you tried to take the blame for something Matt insisted on doing?” He asked. 

Shiro huffed out a quiet breath of laughter. “He got mad and asked me why I couldn’t even trust him to take responsibility for his own fuck ups…” His expression sobered. “I have to save him, Keith…” Shiro said softly. “I don’t know if I could live with myself if I don’t.”

Keith swallowed hard. “Have… have you gone to see Allura yet?” He asked hesitantly. 

Shiro paled, and he chuckled nervously. “She’ll kill me.”

“I’ll call her for you?” Offered Keith. “Have her come over?”

“She _will_ kill me.”

Keith was reaching for his phone despite Shiro’s protests. “Maybe you deserve it,” he muttered. 

The call was over in under a minute. Allura believing Keith had called her over to finally discuss his unhealthy habits and Keith doing nothing to dissuade her.

The door unlocked almost twenty minutes later, and Shiro shot Keith a look from where he had been pacing anxiously in the kitchen. “She has keys?”

“She insisted I give her a spare.”

“Why?”

“Well…”

The door was thrown open and then shut again before Keith could respond, and Allura strode into Keith’s apartment like a woman with a purpose; not noticing the figure standing stock-still in the kitchen. 

“Allura before you say anything…” Keith began from his place in the living room.

“Don’t worry,” Allura cut in. “I’m not going to judge you about any of this. I’m just glad you’re finally ready to talk about this death wish of yours.”

Keith laughed uneasily, glancing over to Shiro and finding his friend wearing his distinctive Dad Look. 

“I don’t have a death wish…” Keith tried, already knowing he was in for it.

“Keith please you don’t have to deny it anymore, you’re safe to talk about it with me.” Allura placed her hands on his shoulders. “I just want to make sure your safe and you running back into collapsing buildings after everyone has signalled them to be clear needs to end.”

“You’ve been  _ what _ ?”

Keith flinched, and Allura spun on her heels. Her hands lifting to her lips when her eyes landed on the figure in the kitchen. “Shiro?”

Shiro seemed to register that he had been spotted, and his attention returned to her. He lifted his prosthetic hand awkwardly. “Hi princess…”

Allura’s eyes were suddenly steely. “Where have you  _ been _ ?”

“I can explain…”

“Start explaining.”

“I will, don’t worry, but first I’d like to know what you meant about Keith’s death wish.” The dad look was back as he looked over at Keith.

“Leave me out of this, you need to catch up with Allura…” Keith muttered.

Allura was glaring at the both of them. “Don’t try to put this off, both of you have some talking to do!” She snapped. An accusing finger extended towards Keith. “That one has been trying to get himself killed by taking off into collapsing buildings that have been cleared ever since you disappeared. It’s happened so much that even the EMTs have almost given up trying to look after him and nothing I say seems to get through.” He eyes spied the nearly empty bottle on the table. “And I see he’s still drinking.” She shot Keith a stern look.

Shiro had folded his arms. “The drinking I noticed,” he replied. “But I was wondering about that burn on his arm.”

“I’m fine,” Keith gritted out. “Can we get back to being mad at Shiro for pretending to be dead?”

“I never stopped being mad at him for pretending to be dead,” Allura shot Shiro an icy look at that, and the man in question stiffened.

“I have a good reason,” he promised.

“Is that right?”

“Actually he’s not lying,” Keith nodded.

“You’re not allowed to give input on anything until we have a talk about that death wish of yours,” Shiro told him sternly.

“I was  _ agreeing  _ with you!”

“That’s besides the point.”

“I need a drink.”

“And you’re being cut off.” Allura stood and grasped the bottle before Keith could get to it. “We should put you in AA and be done with it.”

Keith fixed her with a glare. “I can’t believe you.”

“She’s right,” Shiro piped up.

“I’m sorry, dead people don’t get opinions.”

“Keith…”

“Fine,” he conceded. “No more drinking.” He crossed the living room and grasped his jacket from where it lay thrown across the back of the couch. “I’m going for a walk, you two can get caught up on your own.”

“Try to stay out of trouble,” Shiro told him.

“You’re the one who’s been a drug pusher for the past six months, I don’t think I’m the one who needs to be told to stay out of trouble.”  Before either of them could reply, Keith had slipped out of his apartment, closing the door with a defiant slam. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!!  
> Wow I actually god an update out in time!! That's a first...  
> Anyway I hope you enjoy!! Comments and Kudos are really appreciated as always and if you have time stop by my [Tumblr](http://haunted-ace-space.tumblr.com/)


	3. Partners

It was colder than he had remembered it being on his trudge home hours earlier. Or maybe something in him was always a little cold once the adrenaline from the fire had worn off. He had never been too sure, even before he had started running towards flames with the intention of offing himself instead of saving someone else. 

Somewhere in the back of his head he registered that it was nearly one in the morning. The city was as quiet as it could be with the occasional taxi and gaggle of drunk club-goers stumbling on their way to the next party. 

Keith huffed out a breath that misted in front of his face and shoved his hands into his pockets. 

He needed a drink.

One bar he knew downtown never failed to serve him something strong for cheap. He figured most of it was stolen as he caught a cab and let it take him to the dingier parts of the city that Shiro had always told him to stay away from.

Fuck what Shiro thought. 

He was inside and at the bar with a drink in his hand before his rational side could tell him any better. Sipping slowly and trying to keep his thoughts from snapping at him like rabid dogs. 

_ I think I’m an alcoholic. _

“Burning the midnight oil, mullet?” Long legs in an EMT’s uniform sliding into the seat beside him as if he owned the place. Exactly what Keith’s already fucked up head needed.

He took a slow drink, didn’t glance in Lance’s direction. “What are you doing here?”

In his peripheral he could see Lance jerking a finger behind them. “Hunk and I got a call about a… shooting?” He raised his voice, “Hunk bud, was it a shooting?”

Hunk’s voice from across the bar, “No no a  _ glueing _ . Can you believe that?” He laughed. “Guy glued himself to a space heater dude who  _ does _ that?”

Keith finally looked up, frowning. “Wouldn’t he have burns that would need to be treated?”

Lance waved the question away. “Oh no it wasn’t on or anything he just kinda… glued himself to it…”

“I for one commend his ingenuity,” Hunk had joined them at the bar, “not everyone can figure out how to get themselves that stuck to something like that…”

“Was the… was he okay?” Keith asked.

“Oh yeah he was fine,” Lance paused to take a sip of Hunk’s margarita. “ He just panicked and couldn’t figure out what to do and I guess dispatch got things mixed up and thought someone had been shot so.” A shrug. “Anyway! What are you doing here?”

Keith looked away from the two of them. “I’m off rotation. Wanted to get a drink. Nothing special.”

Hunk looked at his watch. “It’s… almost two in the morning.”

“You two are here getting drinks too,” Keith pointed out.

“We’re EMT’s we don’t know the meaning of a healthy sleep cycle,” Hunk countered.

Lance nodded mournfully, eying himself in the reflective surface of a napkin dispenser. “And it is just  _ hell  _ for my complexion you wouldn’t  _ believe _ the routine I have to uphold to make up for it..”

Keith snorted, muttering into his glass, “Shiro used to say the only thing he hated about being a cop was never knowing when he’d be allowed to wash his hair next.” He took a drink, glancing over at the two of them when he registered their silence. “What?”

“A… cop named Shiro?” Lance’s blue eyes were wide, and Keith was hard pressed to remain sullen even when a bitterness rose to up to the back of his throat.

“Yeah, what of it?”

“You knew Takashi Shirogane?” Hunk was holding Lance’s shoulders as if keeping him from falling over. “The guy was Lance’s hero.”

Keith glared. “I  _ know _ Takashi Shirogane,” he snapped.

Hunk blinked rapidly. “Oh! Of course I didn’t mean, I mean I did but. He’s not dead! Definitely… not… dead…”

Keith glared a moment longer before knocking back his drink and tapping his glass to signal the bartender for a refill. “Not anymore he’s not,” he replied waspishly.

Lance’s hands were on Keith’s shoulders before the bartender had even made his way over with the bottle. “What’s that’s supposed to mean?” His baby blues had gone wide again, and Keith shoved him away to avoid the irritating thought that told him to keep staring into them.

“I mean my apartment is crowded because a dead man isn’t so dead. So congratulations, your hero is still alive. You can be as pissed at him as I am.” 

“Holy s _ hi- _ wait why are you mad at him shouldn’t you be happy he’s alive?” Lance and Hunk had both cocked their heads to the side, not unlike two overeager puppies. 

Keith side-eyed them, somehow still glaring as he took a sip of his refilled drink. “Why should I tell you?” He asked.

“Because we saved your life,” Hunk replied solemnly. 

“You treated a burn on my arm,” corrected Keith. 

“A burn that could have gotten infected I mean have you ever seen how bad gangrene can get?” Lance folded his arms, almost pouting. “And I’m only really talking about like… dry gangrene I don’t even think you wanna know about how gross wet gangrene can get I mean that shit is… No.”

Keith looked at him with mock seriousness. “Oh well you make a very compelling argument.”

Lance grinned. “Thank you!” 

“That was sarcasm,” Keith whispered.

“I know,” Lance whispered back. “Now tell us!”

Keith glared a moment longer before Hunk’s puppy eyes and Lance’s grin had him cracking. He rolled his eyes and took another drink. “Long story short, Shiro and I have always been close and he disappeared for work without telling anyone which was why we all thought he was dead.”

Lance was taking another drink of Hunk’s margarita, the two of them nodding their heads grimly. “So you’re pissed because he let you think he was dead for like.. What was it Hunk, six months?”

“I dunno dude you were the one obsessed with the guy not me.”

“I was not-!” Lance broke off, cleared his throat. “Obsessions aside, I think you should probably stop being an alcoholic, death-wish-having hot head about this and maybe just be happy he’s not… you know… dead.”

Hunk frowned. “Well, dude no think about it like this what would you do if I faked my death for six months without telling you about it?”

“Cry.”

“That’s fair. But I meant like what would you do when I came back.”

“I already told you I’d cry.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Keith had been staring at them blankly. “You two are useless.”

“Also fair,” Hunk replied with a firm nod. “But I get where you’re coming from buddy. You’re happy he’s you know… not dead… but you need some time to cool off and let it all sink in.”

Keith opened his mouth, something biting already ready on his tongue only for it to die there as he nodded mutely. 

Hunk looked at Lance. “See, that’s all this is.”

Lance made a face. “I still think he’s being an over dramatic emo teenager who should cut his mullet.”

“Lance!”

“Yeah well at least i’m not a hairbrained showoff who thinks he needs to talk the ears off of total strangers.” Keith took a drink.

Hunk looked dismayed. “You-!... Person whose name I don’t know! Both of you stoppit!”

“It’s Keith.” Another sip as Keith tried to figure out what had possessed him to tell the duo his name. 

“Keith! There that’s better.” Hunk looked proud of himself. “Wait are we friends? Did we just become friends?”

“God I hope not…” Keith muttered.

Hunk nudged Lance. “I think we just became friends.” Lance nodded in agreement and took another sip of Hunk’s drink. 

Before Keith could respond there was a crackle of static at Hunk’s belt, and the two EMT’s were exchanging looks.

“Gotta go mullet,” Lance downed the rest of the margarita.

“Were you two drinking on duty?” Keith demanded.

Hunk shook his head. “No,” he replied. “Lance was, I was just holding it.”

“Aren’t you guys not supposed to-”

“It was a virgin margarita,” Lance waved away Keith’s protest. “I just wanted something fruity.” He flashed Keith a grin as he and Hunk made for the door. “See you around, mullet!”

“Bye Keith!” Hunk added, not leaving Keith any time for his own goodbyes before they had both disappeared. 

 

***

 

The uniform chafed more than Shiro remembered. But then again he hadn’t been a beat cop since he had made detective nearly five years ago, and while he had been undercover all he had worn was stolen designer clothes. 

He was grateful for something to cover his prosthetic limb as he walked with his head high through the station and towards the Captain’s office. The other officers were already witnessing a ghost walking amongst them, no need to throw one with a robotic arm at them just yet. 

He knocked once at the Captain’s door and it swung open on its own. Leaving him nothing to do but walk in hesitantly.

The Police Chief stood inside. Leaning over his desk instead of sitting and stroking a red handlebar moustache that was nearly orange as he read through some file. 

“Coran?” Shiro’s asked, he had been hesitant a few minutes earlier. Now he was just happy to see an old friend. 

“Shiro!” Coran’s arms were thrown wide around Shiro’s broad shoulders in an instant, and Shiro couldn’t help but laugh as he hugged back. “Glad to have you back!” Coran’s face fell momentarily. “Though, to be honest I’d rather have you on paid leave until you retired! I don’t want you anywhere near the field after what you’ve been through.”

“You put me in as a beat cop again, Coran,” Shiro reminded. 

“Still out in the field. What you need is somewhere to relax and stay as far away from all of this Galra business as possible. The only reason I’m even allowing this is because I know you’ll use Allura against me if I don’t.” He said it affectionately, and Shiro smiled.

“She’s the only weapon I have against you, Chief.”

Coran huffed his agreement and waved Shiro towards the chairs in his office. “Sit down sit down, we’re just waiting for your new partner to arrive.”

“Coran you know I don’t…”

“I know!” Coran shrugged, tossing Shiro the file he had been poring over. “I tried bending all the rules to let you fall through the cracks but it seems like they spit you out again. I saw this in the system this morning. Thought it was a mistake but it turns out it’s not…”

Shiro was frowning as he read the file. “Who is this kid? He looks like a teenager.”

“Are they a he?” Coran tugged his moustache. “I couldn’t tell… every time I checked the system the gender for their profile had changed.”

“It what?”

“No matter I’m sure they’ll tell us when they get here.” Coran nodded. “And the age on the profile says twenty but they do look a little young don’t they?”

Shiro kept reading. “Pidge Gunderson?” He murmured. “A new recruit from the academy and somehow they got assigned to me of all people?”

“I told you, I don’t know how it happened.”

“I’m only here to find out what happened to Matt and take out the Galra Syndicate,” Shiro snapped. “I don’t have time to be looking after some kid.”

“Yes yes I know,” Coran soothed. “I’ll see what I can do but until then I need you to make sure you show them the ropes. There’s no better mentor.”

Shiro looked down at the file again. “Obviously there is otherwise Matt would still be here…” He frowned at the picture in the file. “Hey Coran-?”

“Hey am I late?” A knock at the door was quickly followed by a voice that didn’t bother waiting for the call to enter. The speaker stepping in wearing too large glasses and an officer’s uniform that somehow seemed ill-fitting on their slight frame. 

Shiro looked at Coran. “You gave me babysitting duty.”

“I’m twenty,” came an irate retort.

“Bullshit,” Shiro held up the file. “Something isn’t right with this and if you thought we weren’t going to notice then you’ve obviously underestimated us.”

Coran waved them in, shutting the door and offering a smile. “Don’t worry we don’t bite! Actually I’m a bit curious as to how all of this happened myself, Gunderson.”

“You can just call me Pidge,”

“Are either of those your real name?” Shiro asked gently.

“Pidge is what I go by so that’s enough, isn’t it?” They countered.

Shiro’s face went blank. “I already have one angsty younger sibling to deal with, please don’t give me another.”

Pidge seemed to flinch at that, and Shiro narrowed his eyes. “How’d you get assigned as my partner?” He asked. “Coran was trying to make sure I had the free range to work alone.”

“That’s not standard procedure,” Pidge replied slyly.

“Answer the question.”

They shrugged. “I hacked into the police academy systems to get myself accepted and then got myself into an earlier graduating class by blackmailing one of the instructors. Then once I was out I hacked the systems again to try and see where I should assign myself, saw that somehow you were back and made myself your partner.”

Coran laughed, eyes gleaming. “Clever! You know I’m almost tempted to let you stay on because of that I mean the lengths you went to, even though I don’t understand it all. Why  _ did  _ you do it?”

Pidge was silent, and Shiro tossed the file onto Coran’s desk. Leaning back to massage his eyes. “You’re Katie, aren’t you?” He groaned. 

“Who now?” Coran asked.

“Katie, she- they,  _ Pidge _ is Matt’s younger sibling. He mentioned having one named Katie once who was about to graduate high school early.”

Coran’s eyes went wide. “Wait you mean?” His head turned as if pulled by a string to focus on Pidge. “This is a revenge story!”

“Coran please…”

“Two people seeking revenge!” He was at his desk before Shiro could stop him. Picking up the file and tossing it into a cabinet recklessly. “Well of course Pidge is staying on as your partner then. I can’t deny the poor thing the opportunity of trying to figure out where Matt went - that  _ is _ why you’re here?” 

Pidge nodded warily.

“Fantastic! Shiro, you’ll stay on as her, their, excuse me Pidge but do you mind if I asked you what you’d like to be called? The two of us were wondering before you came in and I don’t want to offend.”

Pidge eyed him for a moment before muttering, “Anything neutral.”

“Understood. Now Shiro you’ll stay on as their partner, show them the ropes since they skipped so much of the academy.”

“Coran I can’t bring them into the field with me it’s too dangerous,” Shiro objected.

Pidge turned to glare at him. “I’m not leaving until I find my brother.”

“Pidge, I will find your brother but I can’t take the risk of something happening to you too.”

“You’re not taking any risk you’re just trying to keep yourself from feeling guilty.”

Shiros mouth snapped shut, and Pidge folded their arms. “I get that you’re trying to set things straight,” they told him. “But I have the right to look too and if you turn me away now i’ll just look for another way to find out what I need to know.”

“They’re right you know.” Coran nodded sagely.

“Coran please…”

“I’m just being honest,” he huffed. “And really who do you know with the skills to hack their way into whatever position they wanted like they did?” He added. “You’ll need Pidge before long and they’ll need you and _that’s_ final.”

“Coran-”

“Dismissed.” Coran lifted his chin, and Shiro closed his eyes. Standing from his chair and following Pidge from the office silently.

Pidge glanced around slowly before nudging his ribs. “They’re all staring at you.”

“Probably because I was dead yesterday,” he replied, taking a moment to massage his eyes again.

They looked up at him. “If it makes you feel any better I already know everything they teach at the Academy. Matt taught me and when you’re hacking your way through a police system it doesn’t hurt to do your homework.” Shiro eyed them at that. “I won’t slow you down.”

He managed a slow smile. “I know you won’t,” he told them. “You’ll do great, it’s me who needs to play catch up now.”

Pidge grinned. “Does that mean I get to drive the squad car?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Shiro shot them a playful grin. “Because I haven’t driven one since I was a beat cop and it’s been  _ years _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yoooo okay I can't believe I got this chapter out on time jfc I was *scrambling* to make sure I didn't miss this update for u guys bc there were a bunch of things going on so I really hope you enjoyed it!!!  
> Comments and Kudos as always are Really Appreciated so please think about leaving one of those if you can and maybe swing by my [Tumblr](http://haunted-ace-space.tumblr.com/)


	4. Idols

Lance slumped down beside Hunk. Taking a momentary breather in the back of their ambulance after a close call that had involved prying apart the members of a questionable BDSM group. 

Hunk was staring at the pavement. “How…”

“Don’t,” Lance cut him off.

“How did they get  _ stuck _ like that?” 

“Hunk buddy you don’t wanna know the answers to those questions it’s grossing me out just thinking about it.”

Hunk looked up at him with wide eyes. “Yeah but  _ how _ ?”

“Dude please, i’m trying to get my appetite back in time for lunch.”

“Oh my appetite isn’t a problem I just wanna know how the hell they managed to all get…  _ fused _ together in those positions like that I mean that was insane.”

“Hunk please.” 

Hunk was taking a bit of a sandwich from an old tin lunchbox. “Alright alright, just saying…” He glanced over at Lance. “Wanna get drinks when we get off?”

“You don’t drink?” Lance frowned, and Hunk shrugged. 

“I like getting the fruity stuff,” Hunk scrunched his nose as he smiled. “It’s like juice for people just mixing juice flavors together to make random combinations.”

“You’re weird.”

“You love me.” 

Lance opened his mouth to retort only to be cut off by the static of another call coming through on their scanner. Hunk was dropping his food back into his lunchbox and slipping through the ambulance into the driver's seat before either of them could comment. Lance quickly shutting the doors behind them and following suit. 

“What is it?” He asked, side-eyeing his friend as Hunk pulled away from the parking lot they had been taking their break in.

“Fire in another apartment complex.” He flipped on the siren.

“That’s the fifth one on this side of town this month.”

Hunk’s only reply was to let out a disgruntled huff before shooting Lance a look. “One bright side though,” he pointed out. “Maybe Keith is back on rotation now, we haven’t seen him in a few weeks.”

“That’s if he hasn’t drank himself into a coma,” Lance replied, already seeing the smoke filtering up into the sky in the distance. 

Hunk was wearing a particularly devious grin. “If he hasn’t,” he began, “Maybe he’ll introduce you to your cop crush,”

“Idonothaveacrushon-!” Lance stopped, cleared his throat. “I just idolized and respected Shiro a lot from the stories i’ve heard.”

Hunk snorted but didn’t comment, eyeing the progressively worsening smoke in the air. “We’re gonna need the oxygen masks this one’s big…”

“Already on it,” Lance unbuckled his seatbelt and slipped into the back of the ambulance. Quickly gathering up necessary equipment only to throw open the doors the moment Hunk pulled the vehicle to a halt. 

The sirens were louder with the doors open. The glow of lights flashing through the smoke and the thumping of footsteps as the fire department moved towards the burning building. 

Already Lance and Hunk found themselves slipping oxygen masks onto a mother and her son. Hunk’s soothing voice instructing them to breath slowly as Lance turned to inspect a nasty looking burn on a man he assumed to be the woman’s husband. 

“He gonna be alright?” Hunk asked over the head of the woman, motioning another flood of coughing people from the building towards more ambulances that had pulled up. 

“It looks worse than it is,” Lance replied, flashing his patient a quick smile. “You’re gonna be fine, alright bud?”

The man coughed into his fist, pointed towards his wife and son. “Are they-?”

“They don’t have so much as a scrape on them,” Hunk reassured.

The smoke was darker now, thickening before beginning to rise as the fire department put a stop to the flames licking at the building. 

“They took care of that one quickly,” Lance observed, bandaging the man’s arm but keeping a close eye on the building. 

“Maybe Keith isn’t on rotation,” Hunk snickered. “They would have never been able to take care of it with him running back into the fire like he always does.”

“I  _ heard _ that,” 

Hunk and Lance turned, watching as a passing firefighter irately lifted up his face mask to glare at them. 

“Keith!” Hunk beamed.

“Hey mullet.”

Keith continued to glare but wandered over all the same. Leaning against the side of the ambulance and coughing raggedly.

“Here,” Hunk handed him an oxygen mask the moment the family he and Lance had been treating had assured them they didn’t need assistance to the hospital. “Deep breaths, you know the drill.”

Keith took the mask without objection. Taking a few large gulps of air before pulling the mask away. “I don’t always run back into fires, you know,” he told them.

“You do when you have a death wish,” Lance replied idly, spinning a roll of bandages around on his finger. 

“And what makes you think I have a death wish?” Keith asked.

Lance thought a moment with mock sincerity. “Probably the whole ‘throwing yourself back into burning buildings’ thing,” he said. “Also the drinking. Dude I barely know you, but you drink too much.” 

Keith shifted on his feet, grumbled, “So i’ve been told…”

“Keith!”

“Speak of the devil…” He turned, spying two blue uniforms moving towards him through the thinning smoke. “They finally put you on this case?” He called.

“I’ve been telling the department-”

“ _ I’ve _ been telling the department,” interrupted an irate voice.

“Pidge and I have been telling the department that these apartment fires aren’t just a random string of arsons since we got to the force,” Shiro amended with a glance down at his partner. “So Coran finally let us come out to take a stab and see what we could find.” He looked over Keith’s shoulder. “Who’re your friends?”

Lance had been gripping Hunk’s arm with wide eyes the moment he recognised Shiro making his way towards them. Leaping to his feet and clearing his throat nervously. “I- uh. Lance McClain.” He thrust out a hand, and Shiro took it with some amusement. Grasping Lances sweaty palm with his prosthetic limb and watching the other’s eyebrows soar with surprise to feel the cool metal against his palm. 

Hunk’s expression was one that held far more excitement the moment he touched the prosthesis. “This uh,” he turned the hand over, still gripping the metal fingers and inspecting the knuckles closely. “This wouldn’t happen to be the same prototype that went missing a few months back would it?” His eyes were shining.

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck. “It might be…” He admitted.

Hunk grinned. “I had been trying to get into the demo presentation for the thing for months but the people in the biomedical field only ever want to deepen their own pockets and wouldn’t dream of letting a nobody like me in.” He released his grip, and Shiro chuckled nervously.

“I was hoping nobody would recognize it,” he admitted. “The people who gave it to me were the ones who stole it in the first place.”

“Fucking knew it,” Pidge muttered.

Shiro gave them a stern look before offering Hunk an awkward shrug. “I was running with some… dangerous people.”

Lance’s eyes had become two wide blue pools. “Keith told us you pretended to be dead and stayed in deep cover within the galra syndicate,” he replied. “They got you the arm didn’t they?”

Pidge coughed out a quiet: “fanboy,” into their fist. Keith snorted.

Shiro ignored both of them and nodded. “They did, “ he replied. “But I don’t like talking about my time there so if you could…”

“Oh!” Lance stiffened, stepping back until he was standing beside Hunk. “Yeah, okay yeah sorry!” He laughed easily as if trying to hide his nervousness. 

Shiro eyed the two of them before looking at Keith. “I’m surprised you actually made friends,” he admitted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keith snapped.

“It means you’re an angst child,” Lance replied before Shiro got the chance, grinning when Keith’s glare focused on him. “Don’t deny it mullet, we all know emo pre-teen angst when we see it but at least it seems you’ve gotten over your death wish.”

“I didn’t have a-!” Keith broke off with a sigh of resignation. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” He looked away moodily.

Shiro was smiling. “He didn’t run back into the building?” He checked.

“Seems so,” Hunk replied. 

Shiro hooked an arm around Keith’s neck, drawing him close affectionately. “So you’re  finally done making the rest of us worry about you?”

Keith wriggled out of his grip. “Like you’re one to talk.” 

“Low blow.”

Pidge cleared their throat. “You do realize we have a job to do right?” They checked. “You  know, investigate suspected arson?” 

“It’s not suspected anything,” Keith told them, jerking his head back in the direction of the building. “You can ask any one of the department who went in there with me to pull people out of the building. A fire that big couldn’t have been started in one place and managed to get that big in the time it took for us to get here.”

Pidge was looking at something on a tablet, and when Keith looked at the screen he saw detailed blueprints of the building. “How’d you get those?”

“You don’t wanna know,” they thrust the tablet into his hands. “Can you try and estimate all the points the fire flared up from?” They asked.

Keith eyed them a moment before taking a good look at the blueprints and circling a handful of areas. “This is just a guess from where the fire was the most out of control. You two should check in with Allura and have her give her opinion on it.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why do you need to know where the fire started if you already know it’s arson?”

Lance was suddenly draping himself over one of Keith’s shoulders to get a good look at the tablet, one arm reaching around Keith’s neck to point at the blueprints. “It’s an apartment building,” he said. “Figuring out who lived in the apartments where the fires started narrows down the list of possible suspects.” Lance looked up at Pidge and Shiro. “You guys think this is connected to the Galra Syndicate don’t you?”

“How did you…” Pidge trailed off as Hunk reached for their tablet. Lance shrugged.

“They’re a drug cartel and nobody knows where they make their product or how they transport it. It would make sense that they use a handful of random apartments in residential parts of the city to move product before starting fires and moving locations to destroy all the evidence so they can stay ahead of anyone on their tail.”

Shiro looked at Keith, “You’re friend’s smart.”

“Don’t let it fool you he’s still an idiot.” Keith shoved Lance off of him.

Lance gasped. “I find that offensive and will not have my name slandered in such a way.”

Still looking at the blueprints, Hunk let out a small, curious noise in the back of his throat. “This place that Keith circled on the fifth floor… it’s right by the gas lines…” He said, looking up. “I didn’t even realize the building still used gas.”

Pidge tugged his arm until he lowered the tablet so they could see. “It is an older building… And I guess that gas mains makes for an easier way to start a fire.”

“But it’s also more explosive, more dangerous,” Hunk pointed out.

“I don’t think whoever is starting the fires cares much about making sure the people in the buildings makes it out alive,” replied Pidge. “And some kind of explosion caused by a gas leak would get rid of evidence just as efficiently as an electric fire would.”

Hunk looked at them. “Were the other apartment fires caused by gas fires too?” He asked.

“I’d have to look and see,” they looked at Shiro. “Did you know anyone in the syndicate who worked with this kind of arson?”

“I didn’t know everyone,” Shiro huffed.

“I was just asking.”

Shiro thought a moment. “Actually…” he muttered, “If they’re all gas fires then I might know who’s behind them.”

Pidge’s eyes lit up, and they turned to the others. “You guys have been great!”

“Glad to help!” Hunk beamed.

“I did nothing,” Lance replied.

“You made Keith look like an idiot,” Pidge told him. “And that’s always something.” 

Shiro had already begun making his way towards his squad car, turning back towards Keith once to call: “Dinner tonight with me and Allura!” 

Keith scowled. “I know!” He snapped.

“Don’t be late!”

“I won’t!”

Pidge gave him a knowing look as they turned to follow Shiro. “You’re gonna be late again aren’t you?”

“Just to spite him.”

“I found this old documentary on mothman earlier wanna come over and watch it with me and just stand those two up?”

“Hell yeah.”

Pidge gave him a final nod, waving goodbye to Lance and Hunk before following Shiro and leaving the three of them alone beside the ambulance.

Lance sagged back against Hunk the moment they were gone. “Ican’tbelieveijusttalkedtohim!”

Hunk rubbed his back. “Deep breaths buddy that’s it.” He shrugged at the look Keith was giving them. “Shiro’s like… his idol.”

“Not my idol!” Lance straightened immediately to correct his friend. “I just have a small obsession with crime rings and the fact that there's a major one being taken down right in my city is just-!” He broke off in an exclamation of delight, turning suddenly to face Keith. “You know I almost became a cop because of it.”

Keith eyed him with mock sincerity. “The force missed out an a valuable asset,” he deadpanned. 

“You’re rude. Anyway!” He spun a quick circle on one foot. “Glad you managed to work through your death wish now that Shiro is back, also glad that I got to meet the guy like holy s _ hit _ !”

“You just gonna keep gushing about him or do you have something original to say?” Keith snapped, realizing he had said it with more venom than intended when both Hunk and Lance’s eyes widened. 

Lance’s baby blues were fastened on him in confusion. “Am I not allowed to gush about him?” He asked. “The guy is a bit of a legend.”

Keith spotted a member of his team motioning him over out of the corner of his eye, and nearly breathed a sigh of relief. “Do whatever you want,” he told Lance. “I’ll see you two around.” He turned his back on the two of them and walked away before either of them could say another word.

Lance made a face at Keith’s retreating back. “Death wish or not he’s still an angst child.”

“Lance please…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I'm a bit late with this one :/  
> Sorry! Things got kinda hectic.  
> Also the update schedule may or may not get a little weird from here on out because I got a job and may not have the time to update as frequently. But I'll still try to make sure I get the updates out every week so~  
> Enjoy!  
> Please think about leaving comments and kudos!!!! They really help with my motivation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	5. Hiding

Matt would always remember the way it smelled. The smell of gas fumes drifting up through the building and mixing with the air. 

Sendak used to say that all it would take was one spark for him to be burned to ash.

That’s probably why Matt woke up in a cold sweat in the dead of night more often than he’d like to admit. Groping for the little kerosene lamp by the cot that served as his bed to double, triple check that it hadn't leaked during the night. 

The scent of those fumes would haunt him to the grave, he thought.

He lifted himself from his cot. Drawing in slow breaths and letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of his surroundings. A tiny apartment with a leaking ceiling and windows that didn't quite shut right sitting just above a reeking fish market. 

The smell he could stomach, it distracted him in the moments where his thoughts would wander all he could swear the stench of gas fumes were surrounding him. 

After a moment, he forced himself to stand. Padding across the bare floors towards a complex setup of outdated monitors he had managed to rig together in the confines of his little apartment. 

The three monitors at the top showed the cameras. Not his own but the building’s, as well as those of the cameras out in the street that he had managed to get himself access to after moving in. 

The fish market downstairs was nearly empty save for a few scattered customers and the tired shopkeeper. Outside the street was clear and barren.

Matt let the images calm his nerves and turned towards another screen. Pulling up a handful of social media pages and letting himself scroll through them.

His father was in the hospital; needed a kidney transplant. 

His mother was at his side, posting pictures and frequent updates.

Katie was-

Matt chewed his lip.

Katie was still inactive. Had been for the past few months though his parents seemed calm enough.

He couldn't find any reports about a missing child or signs that either of them were panicking. Just… inactivity.

A rare occurrence for the younger sibling who had often showed him up when it came to electronics. 

Matt chalked it up to mourning. 

He had been gone for nearly a year after his cover had been discovered. A Galra syndicate officer following up on his suspicions and connecting the dots of all of Matt’s little mistakes.

Matt shook his head in an attempt to forget.  _ I’m out now. _ He thought dismissively.  _ I escaped and that’s that. _

He turned his attention to the pages of old friends. 

Keith seemed to be during better. Or, at the very least he wasn’t dead and had more of a presence online. 

Matt was certain he was still drinking himself sick when nobody was looking, though. He tried not to think about the fact that the change was likely his fault.

Coran hadn’t changed much at all, and neither had Allura. The two of them somehow still cheerful even after it all. _ I don’t know how they manage to put on such brave face- _

The thought turned to static at the sight of a picture of the two of them. A man he recognized squished squarely between Allura and Coran’s beaming faces. 

He was a little different than Matt remembered.

The shock of hair falling over his forehead was white now, and a scar cut a jagged line across the bridge of his nose. A robotic prosthetic hand rested at Allura’s hip instead of an organic one. 

Matt leaned back in his chair, staring. “They’re gonna kill you.”

 

***

Shiro lifted his head from his pillow groggily. Blinking over towards his nightstand to where his phone was lighting up to the sound of some generic tune. 

“Who’s calling this late?” Allura pressed her forehead between his shoulderblades, mumbled into his back.

“Dunno…” Shiro reached across and grasped his phone. The caller was from an unknown number, and he frowned. 

“Well answer it already,” grumbled Allura.

Shiro obeyed, pressing the phone to his ears and croaking out a tired: “Hello?”

“You need to go back into hiding.”

“Matt?” Shiro was pulling himself out of bed at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line.

“Shiro what are you-”

“Allura it’s Matt.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“I can’t stay on the line long,” Matt was saying. “But you need to start hiding before they find you again.”

“Where are you we can come find yo-”

“ _ No _ ,” Matt insisted. “It’s safer this way alright, you should think about laying low too.”

“Matt my cover was never blown, I’m back to find out what happened to  _ you. _ ” Shiro was reaching for a notepad, scribbling out the quick message of ‘Call Pidge’ and showing it to Allura. 

She nodded and grabbed her own phone as Shiro continued. “I’m trying to find you and take down the syndicate.”

“There is no way to take down the syndicate, alright?” Matt was hissing. “So if you care about Allura and Keith you’ll stay as far away from them as possible.”

“Matt-”

“I have to go.”

“Matt!”

“Don’t come looking for me.”

The phone went dead, and Shiro slowly pulled it away from his ear. Staring down at the thing in his hands in disbelief. “He’s alive.”

“Pidge is on their way,” Allura told him.

Shiro looked at her. “Matt’s alive…”

She reached for his free hand, lacing his fingers with her own. “And he escaped wherever they had him judging by the call.”

Shiro let out a long breath, pulling his hand away only to rest his face in his hands. “The things they must’ve done to him-”

“Don’t think about that right now.” Allura told him firmly, slipping from beneath the blankets to sit beside him. “Right now think about what you can do to fix it.” She gave him a long look, eyes boring into him until he raised his head. “You know what that is, don’t you?”

Shiro drew in a breath. “Pidge may be able to trace the number…”

“Which is a start in the right direction to find him,” Allura agreed. 

He reached out a hand, and she took it firmly. “You’ll find him, okay?”

“I’ve just made so many mistakes…”

“We’ve all made mistakes,” she replied. “And none of us are ever ready for the responsibility of fixing them. But we’ll work through it, and you’re not going to have to do it alone.” Allura have his hand a hard squeeze. “I’ll go make some coffee, Pidge is going to need some because I doubt they’ll want to sleep once they hear about this.”

“Thank you, Allura.”

“Mmmhmm.” She gave him a small peck on the cheek before standing and padding quietly from the room. “You’re lucky i’m off rotation tonight,” she added as she left. “I don’t even want to think how you would have dealt with this alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Short Chapter this time around lol.  
> Anyway this may or may not be the last chapter, actually. There's been a lack of feedback and it really doesn't seem worth the time to continue something I don't have the motivation for when theres so few people who enjoy reading.  
> I haven't made up my mind yet so I might keep writing, might not. Right now I'm just really leaning towards,,, not,,,  
> Anyway! I hope you guys did enjoy this update at the least~ See u next week with either a new update or my decision to stop working on this project :/


	6. Loop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HI GUYS!!!  
> Okay well,,, it's not saturday,,, whoops,,,,  
> Sorry!!! I know I probably worried some people what with what I said last week and then missing my update deadline by four days and thats just because I've finally started work and my schedule has been p a c k e d   
> But that being said I will be keeping this fic going.  
> I will have to spread out updates from now on because of work to probably every other saturday just to keep up and I hope you all understand >.>  
> But with the every two week updates I might be able to get longer updates??? maybe,,,, not sure yet,,, *sweats nervously*  
> But anyway!!!  
> New chapter!  
> Thank You Guys for coming out of the woodwork the way you did and telling me how much you enjoyed my work also, that really helped you have No Idea how hard of a hit not getting many responses for this was (unless I guess you're a fic writer then I'm p sure you know the struggle full well)
> 
> Ayyway~ I'll ramble after the chapter~~ Enjoy~~~

The call proved impossible to trace. The more Pidge tried the more confusing the data became until they were sifting through a mountain of information that seemed to constantly chew them up and spit them out again.

That said, they didn’t stop trying until morning was already upon them and Shiro was re entering the living room dressed for the day.

He shot a glance at Pidge still staring intently at their monitors and pursed his lips. “Did you get any sleep?”

“No.”

“Sleep in the car today, I’ll handle whatever calls we get.” He tossed over the duffle bag of clothes Pidge had brought the night before. “Get dressed, we need to go.”

“I have to keep trying until I track down Matt.”

“You need a break from this.”

“I can’t-!”

“Pidge,” Shiro gave them a stern look. “Just rest. I’ll drive the both of us to the station and you can nap in the squad car.”

Pidge relented. “Fine,” they muttered, rummaging through their bag. “I’ll get changed.” They stood, stifling a yawn on their way towards the bathroom.

As they entered the hallway, Allura stepped into the living room. Glancing over at Pidge with a frown. “Did they get any sleep?”

“No,” Shiro was massaging the bridge of his nose. “I should have stayed up last night to make sure they went to bed and got some rest.”

“You were exhausted too.” Allura paused to give him a kiss on the cheek before wandering towards the kitchen and starting a fresh pot of coffee. “Talk to Coran when you get to the station. I’m sure he’ll try and get dispatch to send light calls your guys’ way today so Pidge can get some rest.”

“I’m fine.” Pidge had reappeared fully dressed with their duffle bag slung over one shoulder. They gave Allura a defiant look, daring her to challenge them before bending to retrieve their tablet from the thrown-together rig they had used the night before. “Can we go?”

Shiro didn’t respond. Instead giving Allura a swift kiss goodbye and watching with some amusement at the hard look she gave Pidge that seemed to curb the small officer’s irritation before they were both walking out the door.

 

***

Much to Shiro’s irritation, Pidge didn’t do much napping once they were out on patrol. His partner choosing instead to tap away at their tablet where the information they had gleamed from the night before had all been safely stored. 

“I thought I told you to take a break,” he told them.

“I can’t,” came the reply. “You call and say that Matt is alive and is telling you to hide? I can’t just sit back and rest after that until I know where he is.”

“Pidge…” Shiro began hesitantly. “You won’t be much help to Matt if you’re overworked and can’t think right.”

“Sure thing,” Pidge said. “Tell me again after I’ve found him.”

He opened his mouth to reprimand them again only to be cut off by a call coming over their scanner. He settled for calling in his response and flipping on his siren. “You’re staying in the car,” he told Pidge.

“But it’s a possible hostage situation you’ll need help-” 

“You can’t help when you could pass out from lack of sleep at any moment,” he replied matter-of-factly.

Pidge glared over at him, sulking. “You took this call on purpose.”

“You bet your ass I did…” He hardly noticed the frantic tapping of Pidge’s fingers over their tablet screen until they were nearing the scene of the call. “What are you doing?”

“I found the building location.” Pidge smirked. “Three entrances, one is employee only and needs a pin to get in and out. The other is the front entrance and the last is a side emergency exit.”

“And that helps us how…”

Pidge was staring intently at their tablet. “The two doors cops could easily come through are likely barricaded.”

Shiro finally seemed to catch on at that, “But you can open the one that needs a pin remotely and get us in?”

Pidge grinned, and Shiro offered a smile in return, pulling up to the scene to find a group of squad cars and a handful of ambulances. “You’re still not coming,” he added just as Pidge unbuckled their belt.

“Not even if I hang back and monitor cameras?”

“That-” He broke off. “Come on.”

“Nice.”

The two of them slipped from their squad car and joined the other officers at the scene. Shiro quickly outlining Pidge’s plan and the others falling swiftly in line at his orders.

“Make sure the EMTs are ready for any injured hostages,” Shiro told Pidge. They nodded.

“I’ll be watching your progress over the cameras, if anything looks fishy you’ll be the first to know.”

Shiro placed a hand on Pidge’s shoulder in thanks before turning towards his team. A jerk of his head and he was making for the side of the building with the others in tow; leaving Pidge on the other side of the protective barrier amongst the wailing sirens of squad cars and ambulances. 

They made a small face of irritation at being left behind before shaking their head and looking down at their tablet. Focusing on the outer cameras to check on the entry teams approach and estimating the time it would take them to reach the locked entrance they were counting on them to disable. 

_ At this pace I have about forty seconds. _ They thought, pulling at their lower lip with their teeth. They swiped the image of the cameras to the top corner of their screen to get a good look at the program that allowed them to hack into the building’s security system. Pidge curled their fingers into their palms to crack their knuckles, almost hearing the Matt’s voice in their head, egging them on the same way he used to when he would set up particularly tricky puzzles for them to solve back home.  _ Give ‘em the works, Green. _

Their first two attempts to get through the door ended in failure, and they looked towards the images of the cameras.  _ Twenty-five seconds.  _ Another try and they were being threatened with the sounding of the buildings inner alarm. _ Fifteen seconds. _ Matt’s voice again:  _ What are you doing, Green? It’s not that difficult a lock. _

“Fuck off.”

_ Ten seconds.  _

Then Matt, _ Why not do that thing you did when you broke into dad’s safe to get our gameboys back when you were six? _

“Fuck-” Pidge paused. “Dammit.”  _ Three seconds.  _ A quick change to the algorithm had the door unlocking just as Shiro’s team arrived at the back of the building. All of them managing to slip in undetected instead of having to linger at the door conspicuously. 

Pidge grinned, looked up. “Thanks Ma-” They stopped, biting down hard and grinding their teeth until it hurt to force their thoughts back to the task at hand instead of the little voice of their brother speaking in their head. 

They swiped down the images of the cameras again. Switching to view the inner cameras this time to follow the progress of the team and keeping a steady eye ahead of them for any possible threats. 

Pidge pressed a finger to their earpiece. “Shiro?”

On their tablet screen, they saw their partner look towards the nearest camera and tilt their head to the side. 

“The cameras just up ahead keep cutting in and out sporadically; I’m not sure if i’ll be able to give you guys reliable coverage.”

A thumbs up.

“I’ll head to the EMT’s and have them get ready, but I’m still keeping an eye out for you guys, alright?”

Another thumbs up, and the team pressed deeper into the building.

Pidge frowned down at their tablet a moment before glancing up to locate the nearest ambulance and beginning to wander towards it; gluing their eyes back down to their tablet and only looking up now and again to make sure they didn't run into someone.

“Pigeon!”

They ran into a solid figure clad in an EMT’s uniform just as they heard the shout; Pidge looked up to find a vaguely familiar face smiling down at them. “You’re Keith’s friend?”

The smile widened, and the man turned to peer into the ambulance behind him. “Lance! Pigeon says we’re Keith’s friends does that make it official?”

“Are you calling me  _ Pigeon _ ?”

“Yes.”

Pidge opened their mouth to reply, only to stop. Blinking rapidly before looking back at their tablet to check the progression of Shiro and his team; they had passed into the range of the glitching cameras, and were passing in and out of Pidge’s field of view.

“Whacha got there?” Hunk peereed curiously down at the screen, reaching for the tablet.

“Don’t touch my stuff.”

“I just wanna-”

“Don’t  _ touch _ my stuff.”

Hunk’s face fell into a pout that only Pidge would have been able to refuse had they even bothered to glance up again. “I just want to help…”

“Unless you can figure out how to get these glitchy cameras back online for me, I’d suggest you stick to what you’re good at and start getting the rest of the EMT’s ready to receive any injured hostages,” snapped Pidge.

Lance hopped out of the back of the ambulance. “We’re all ready, don’t worry your little head about it Pigeon.”

“Stop that.”

“Wassat? I couldn’t hear you from all the way down there.”

“Want me to break your kneecaps? That’ll get you down to my level and then your buddy here can go ahead and patch you up after.”

Lance paled, and beside him Hunk laughed before reaching out for the tablet again. Tapping at the edge of the screen hesitantly as if asking for permission. “But actually, I think I can help with the cameras…” 

He gently pulled the tablet from Pidge’s hands and began swiping away. “These ones are glitchy around this area for a reason… but not because they keep cutting out…”

“Why then?” Pidge lifted onto their tip-toes in an attempt to see the screen.

“This is where important things happen, so the people here don’t want any hackers to see any of the good stuff. So i’ll bet they put everything on a loop… or… tried to at least…”

Pidge’s face lit up. “But it wasn’t implemented right so the loop of a set recording keeps cutting to static at the same point in the recording!”

“Right!” Hunk grinned and looked back at the tablet. “So I’ll bet if we reset the camera grid in this part of the building… Got it!”

Pidge snatched the tablet away from his hands, swiping through the new images being fed to them from the cameras that had previously been glitching of Shiro and his team moving through the building. “Hunk you’re a genius!”

Hunk blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know about that really… I mean… culinary genius sure….”

Pidge had just finished relaying the message to Shiro that they were able to direct him through the building again, receiving another thumbs up in response before they turned their attention back towards Hunk and Lance. 

They were silent for a moment, as if mulling something over. “You think you could help me trace a call?” They asked finally.

Hunk tilted his head to the side, not unlike a puppy. “What kind of call?”

“The kind that keeps getting harder to figure out every time I narrow down a possible location to within a hundred mile radius.”

His eyes lit up. “ _ Yes. _ ”

Pidge was patting their pockets for a pen. “Good, let me give you my number so I can-” They broke off, eyes zeroing down on their tablet.

Lance and Hunk frowned down at them. “What’s wrong?” Hunk was reaching for the tablet again. 

“They disappeared.”

“What?” Lance’s eyes were wide while beside him, Hunk had taken the tablet into his hands. 

“They couldn’t have disappeared…” Hunk replied, tone a careful blend of barely concealed panic. “Maybe whoever’s in there put the entire system back on a loop?”

“They couldn’t have done it so quickly without crashing the system, especially when the last loop they tried on a part of the building was so glitchy,” Pidge reminded, reaching up for their earpiece. 

“Shiro?” They asked. “I’ve lost sight of you, give me something to let me know you’re alright.”

From inside the building, the three of them heard the sudden sounds of explosions and gunfire. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *ends on a cliffhanger*   
> lol Have fun waiting the two weeks for the next one 
> 
> But also really thanks again for reading and enjoying my work!  
> As always, comments/kudos are really appreciated (and sharing the fic with anyone else that would be gr8)
> 
> OH! Also! Because this is a universal thing for creators, maybe think about going and saying smth nice about a fic you you've enjoyed? Or some fanart you liked/reblogged? Maybe message the artist and tell them you liked it? It's gonna make someones day I guarantee it friendo


	7. Not An Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whoops

AAAAAAAAAAAAA IM SORRY!!!!  
  
Okay okay so I know I said there would be an update like,,, last saturday,,,, and it is now monday,,, Sorry,,,  
  
Work has been pretty stressful among a few other things and it's been hard to keep a regular update schedule going but I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm not dropping this fic.

I'll still be working on it, It just might be a bit before the next update and I'm really sorry that the update schedule is falling out of whack after you all showed so much support :/  
  
I'll still try to get the next chapter out before too much more time goes by. And I'll try and make sure that this fic isn't left alone for like a month or two between updates lol (i'm a reader too trust me I know that pain) 

But until then, sorry again!!! And thank you all for being so supportive. 


	8. Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM ALIVE HOLY FUCK
> 
> I'll be sorry in the notes after the chapter but for now enjoyyyyyyyy

The last thing Shiro heard from his partner was Pidge telling him that they had managed to get the cameras back online. Shortly after, one of the men of his SWAT unit had discovered a small doorway that had been poorly hidden behind a sheet of scrap metal, and he had motioned them all to follow him through.

At first he hadn’t noticed the lack signal coming from the earpiece Pidge had fitted him with; marking up the silence from his partner as a signal that everything was going well. 

The first sign that he had been wrong came in the form of the sound of footsteps echoing further down the narrow hall.

Shiro motioned his men to a halt and raised his weapon, moving forward slowly until he came to an intersection where the hall diverted. 

The footsteps were coming from the left, and Shiro pressed against the wall. Stilling himself until a figure came into view as the owner of the footsteps crossed through the intersection.

He saw purple. More of it than necessary in the form of a hoodie, hat and spray-painted sneakers. 

The colors he recognized all too well as the regalia of the Galra Syndicate. 

_ Pidge should have warned us about someone approaching. _ Shiro bored holes into the back of the retreating figure.  _ What are they doing? _

A glance behind him and a quick wave of his hand the moment the figure had disappeared was all it took to motion his men forward again. Spurring them into a quiet creep directly forward down the hall in front of them to avoid any confrontation with the man that had passed by. 

As they walked, Shiro made it a point to look around for cameras. Peering up along the walls only to find nothing. 

_ We're cut off.  _ He thought. The realization hitting him suddenly and sending chills down his spine. "Shit."

"Sir?" He paused and glanced back. Finding one of his officers looking at him with some concern. 

"Keep going," He replied. Giving a firm nod and regaining composure. "Stay close to the walls." 

A nod from the SWAT officer, and they were creeping along again. The hallway quickly widening into what Shiro recognized as something like a warehouse.

He hadn't realised that the facility was that large from the outside. The large expanse of the sweeping room in front of him seemingly large enough to house a small army. 

He motioned for his officers to stop. Sweeping his eyes over low tables of what he recognized quickly as a purple Galra strain of narcotics and pursing his lips.

The room seemed fairly empty. The tables unguarded and no drug pushers around to sift through the product.

It wasn't how he remembered this stage of the process going....

"Shit."

One word. Repeated under his breath just before the spattering of gunfire was pushing him and his officers from the safety of the hall to duck behind the tables of product.

"Stay low!" Shiro drew a small cloth up over his face to hide his lips and nose, wishing he could do something about his shock of white hair and praying he wasn't recognized. 

The gunfire persisted, this time with his officers returning fire into the darkness of the hall as Shiro glanced around.

The purple drugs laid out on the table was a familiar strand. Pushed by someone he had more than a few run-ins during his time amongst the cartel.

He lowered his gun, keeping himself low and closing his eyes; drawing in a deep breath through his nose. 

His eyes snapped open, and he was standing up from his cover just as the hall he and the others had filed from was sealed off. "Fire-!"

The gas ignited before he could get off the rest of his warning.

 

***

  
  


Smoke had begun rising up from near the center of the building, and the three friends stood stock still. Staring at the rising cloud and listening to the sounds of gunshots and approaching sirens.

"He's fine..." Pidge began slowly, gripping their tablet so hard that it hurt.

Lance was staring at them. "Why aren't you going in there aren't you a cop?" He demanded.

"Yes I'm a cop alright but I scammed my way through the academy i've never shot anyone I don't know how to handle this!"

Hunk had shaken himself free of his trance to climb into his ambulance, managing to radio dispatch of the turn of events just as fire trucks began arriving on scene.

He crawled from the ambulance, eyeing the nearest truck as the door was thrown open. "Please tell me Keith isn't on rotation..."

They spotted the familiar mullet tugging protective gear over his head just before swinging himself to the ground, and somehow managed to wince in unison. 

"Do we tell him...?" Lance asked.

"He'll run in there if we do." Pidge had returned to staring at their tablet. The only comfort they could find as the gunfire continued and the images from the cameras inside began slowly clouding with smoke before cutting to black.

"And if we don't..." Hunk began.

"Then we'll all have to sit here while Shiro's inside getting shot at," Lance finished. His blue eyes had hardened, and before the others could stop him he had begun striding across the lot towards where Keith was tugging out the hose of the fire truck. "We need to talk to you!"

Hunk was at his heels, a warning at his lips but only managing to get out: "Lance-!" before his friend was speaking over him again.

"Shiro's inside."

Keith stiffened. Turning to face the trio slowly before reaching up to pull off his mask and helmet. "What did you just-"

"Shiro is inside," Pidge repeated, ignoring Hunk's groan. "Getting shot at while that fire destroys the building."

Keith turned on his heels, ready to bolt towards the building only to feel both Lance and Hunk's hands latching onto his arm to pull him back.

"We need a plan first," Lance told him.

"We?" Keith demanded.

"Yes. We." Pidge's glare had Keith paling, and he looked away; They nodded. "That's what I thought." Pidge began looking through the remaining blueprints on their tablet. "I can get you guys through the building to the place where I lost sight of Shiro but I have to be with you."

Keith was glancing anxiously at the smoke billowing from the building. "I can spot the safest routes through the smoke and the fire. I know how to pick out unsafe floors and I can usually tell when something's about to collapse." He pulled a knife from his belt - though it looked more like a small sword than anything. "Also I have this."

"Why -  _ why _ do you have that, Keith?" Lance was shaking his head. 

"This isn't the time to explain the knife."

"That's fair," Lance reached for Pidge's belt, tugging their gun free and inspecting it calmly. "I know how to use this."

"You know it’s a felony to take an officer's weapon?" Pidge told him.

"Yeah and it’s probably a felony to hack your way onto the force but you don’t see us talking shit."

"That- okay yeah, fine."

"Hunk," Lance turned to his friend. "You're the best mechanic I know and I know something in there is gonna be broken... it'll be like... a plot point i can feel it."

"Stop breaking the fourth wall."

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm in."

Pidge was glancing around before directing them around the building and towards the back entrance. Hacking into the system once again and allowing them to enter the building without much trouble.

"I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this...." Hunk muttered under his breath. Holding an axe Keith had been kind enough to lend him as he trudged near the back of the group.

"You agreed to do it." Pidge was by his side, looking down at their tablet and calling out directions to Lance and Keith at the front of the group as the air around them slowly began filling with smoke.

"This was probably the dumbest idea you've ever had," Keith was telling Lance, blinking to peer through the smoke and wondering what had possessed him to leave behind his helmet and mask. 

"Sure thing hotshot," Lance rolled his eyes, trying to pretend like the sting didn't bother him and holding his gun ready. "You say that like you didn't try to take off the moment you heard Shiro was in here."

Keith sulked silently at that, and Lance grinned; Keith could almost feel the brightness of it radiating off of the other man like the heat of flames.

He shook the thought away and pressed forward at Pidge's instructions. The smoke getting thicker and pushing the small group closer together to avoid getting lost.

Pidge coughed into their fist, rasping out: "This is where I lost contact."

Keith blinked and looked about him. "The smoke is dark..." he said. "The fire's already dying..."

"Then why this much smoke?" Pidge asked him.

"Over here!" Hunk was standing beside a large space that looked as if it led to another portion of the building. The gap nearly completely sealed by a metal door. "The fire's being smothered in there," he told them."

Keith was motioning for the axe. "We need to open the door before the people down there choke on the smoke."

Hunk peered at the door. “It’s a mechanical door and it looks like the gears have been jammed no amount of smashing the lock is gonna open it.”

"What did I tell you, knew it’d be a plot point," Lance grinned. “Can you get it open?”

Hunk looked over at him just as the door groaned. “Yeah I just shifted the gears back into place and fixed the cut wires.”

Keith blinked at him. “How did you do that so fa-”   


“C’mon let’s get this door open.” Hunk was swinging the axe down over the lock before Keith could finish, and the thing popped off of the door as if it had been made of cheap plastic.   


“Nice swing bud,” Lance nudged him and reached for the door, stopping only when Keith stayed his hand. 

"The rest of the smoke is gonna flood up here once we do that," he told him.

Pidge was nodding, tapping away at their tablet to find any open windows that might allow the smoke to leave the building once it was free. "So if you think it's bad now..."

"Shiro's down there," Lance was looking at Keith, and the hand pulled away. 

He gave a slight nod. "Everyone stay low and try and regulate your breathing." 

Pidge, Hunk and Keith crouched down to the side of the door. Pressing themselves to the wall beside the door as Lance reached for the handle again.

He yanked the metal door open with a quick wrench before joining them on the floor as thick black smoke poured from the other side of the door. 

Coughing met their ears once the door swung free. Followed quickly by stumbling footsteps and the figures of people moving through the smoke.

With watering eyes, Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Keith peered up at them. Crouching there stock-still and not daring to move just as one of the shadows in the smoke stopped and turned towards them; the distinct shape of a gun in it's hand.

Lance had raised his weapon and fired once before the figure could take a step towards them. Keeping his gun raised and drawing in level breaths through the smoke.

"Which one of you idiots just shot me?"

"Oh jesus christ." Lance slumped back against the wall, his voice rasping a little from the smoke at the sound of Shiro's voice.

"Lance did it!" Hunk replied immediately.

Shiro let out a laugh that ended more in a croak. "We'll talk about this more when we're outside, all of you. Go on."

He allowed them all to stand. He and his team trickling from the building now slowly clearing of it's smoke and quickly finding themselves at the mercy of fussing EMT's.

Out in the light, the others could clearly see the signs the fire had left on Shiro's uniform; as well as the hole from the perfect shot that had hit just where his protective vest covered his heart. 

He was twirling the bullet between his fingers a little as he leaned against Lance and Shiro's ambulance; the two of them having insisted on treating him themselves. "That was a perfect shot, Lance," he said finally.

A nervous laugh from the ambulance. "I practice a little with my aim..." Lance admitted.

Keith was peering at the hole the shot had left in Shiro's uniform. "You could barely see because of the smoke and you still managed to hit somewhere that would have killed him if he hadn't been wearing the vest," he blinked over at Lance. "How much is a little?"

Lance went red, and Keith found himself coughing and looking down to keep himself from choking on his own tongue. "Nevermind then," he waved the subject away. "Shiro's okay and that's all that matters, right?"

"Oh no you're all in for it."

"We helped!" Pidge protested.

"You could have gotten yourselves killed!" Came Shiro's retort.

"We're not children you know," Hunk folded his arms. "Well, Pidge might be but that's a little fuzzy so who cares?" He looked at Shiro, jaw set decisively. "You can't do this all on your own and we're not gonna  _ let _ you do it all on your own."

"That's really sweet but-"

"I wasn't asking for your permission," Hunk cut him off with a frown. "You're trying so hard to keep everyone else safe well what about yourself?" He asked. "You don't get to do that to the people you care about. You don't get to do that to Keith and Pidge and since they care about you and me and Lance care about them well... by extension we care about you too. Besides it's kinda a dick move to let someone run around with a death wish, don't you think?"

Keith snorted, biting the reaction back quickly at Shiro's glare only to roll his eyes the moment he looked away. 

Shiro let his glare last a moment longer, before he was nodding his head. "You're right," he admitted finally. "I can't do this alone and I should have never thought that I could."

"Hunk and I have ways to help, even if you wouldn't initially think so." Lance was leaning on Keith, not caring when the other shoved him away and instead returning to use the shorter male as his perch every time until Keith gave up. "Hunk is a great mechanic and an electrician. If it's broken then he can fix it for you."

"And you?" Keith muttered angrily, arms folded and trying to ignore Lance still leaning against him. 

Lance laughed cheerfully. "I bring Hunk!"

Shiro gave him a kind smile. "You're more than that," he said, holding up the bullet again. "Anyone who can shoot like this is an asset to anyone."

Lance blinked, and fell silent. Finally allowing Keith to shove him off as Keith huffed: "oh look, he finally shut up."

"Sorry!" Lance wasn't quiet for long. "I was just processing about how Shiro seems to like me more than you is all. I think your alcoholism is still getting in the way of your brotherly love."

The knife made it's second appearance, and Lance held up his hands as Keith extended it. "Wanna say that again?"

"Keith stop that! I thought I told you to stop carrying that thing around!" Shiro's eyes had widened with dismay.

"Yeah well I thought I told you not fake your own death so."

"No you didn't?"

"You're right. I figured it was implied."

"Does anyone need any more oxygen?" Hunk re entered the conversation with an oxygen tank and mask. Brandishing it almost like a worried mother hen.

Pidge pushed it away just as Hunk attempted to shove it against their face. "Hunk we're fine please."

"I just want to make sure..."

"Hunk stop."

"Guys..."

They stopped as Shiro spoke up again. The four of them turning to him. "I know who's been setting the fires in this area." Pidge was opening their mouth just as Lance slapped a hand over it to quiet them.

Shiro continued. "His name’s Sendak. A general in the Galra syndicate who pushes a specific type of drug taken by inhaling it. He also has a bit of a record and is known in the upper tier of generals for being the best to work with when they need evidence destroyed because of his know-how with gas fires. He can set them up and start them all without any of the syndicates people getting injured; he can make it seem like a normal house fire too or just an accident if he wants."

"And you're sure it's him?" Pidge pulled Lance's hand away to ask.

"I had a pretty good idea that it was based off of the evidence with the fire. But down there I saw his product being lined up to ship out so now i'm certain"

Lance was frowning. "He blew up his own product?"

"He had cops inside maybe he was just trying to get rid of them?" Keith suggested.

"Gas fires are too risky to just throw together. A seasoned veteran would know that." Lance shook his head. "And his plan of sealing off the SWAT unit down where the fire was was too well thought out too."

"That door you guys busted open wasn't even a door when we went in. It was an opening that was barely covered up," Added Shiro.

"So you were led into a trap?" Hunk asked. "Who would be trying to trap some random SWAT unit with a fake call about a possible hostage situation?"

Lance and Keith arrived at the same conclusion at once, saying in unison: "Someone who knows you're still alive." They started at the sound of their voices mingling together, but shook it away. 

Shiro had begun massaging the bridge of his nose. "Matt told me they'd find me..."

"Wait Matt?" Lance asked. "Your missing partner, Matt?"

"I thought he was-"

Pidge cut Hunk off. "He called Shiro last night with a warning. His call is the one I need your help tracing."

"Well now I'm double in."

"If you want I can get into contact with other fire stations across the city and in neighboring cities," Keith offered."See if they're having any strings of fires that we could look into?"

Shiro nodded. "Relay your info to Pidge."

"And Hunk," Hunk added.

"And Hunk. They can start putting together some kind of map for us to look at..."

"You know..." Lance began. "Patients come into the ER all the time with strange shit..."

"Your point?" Keith asked.

"How new is that drug Sendak is pushing?" The question was directed at Shiro, who seemed to understand.

"Very new. It's just starting to hit the streets."

"And it’s an inhalant?"

"Yes."

"Any side effects on the respiratory system that could be mistaken for other issues like a sore throat?"

Shiro thought a moment. "Slight burns," he nodded. "The throat kinda swells a little and gets red."

"Like someone swallowed something hot?" Hunk checked.

"Yes."

Lance and Hunk exchanged a glance. "Hunk has a friend - a nurse - who works in the ER at the hospital downtown. We could give her the list of symptoms to look out for and maybe have her let us know if reports start coming in that match."

"Isn't that a break of doctor patient confidentiality or something?" Pidge asked.

Lance shrugged. "Not if she gives us a really good timestamp of the times those patients were seen and you somehow manage to get your hands on those records with that tablet of yours."

Keith eyed them. "Guys this is really illegal?"

"We're narrowing down where to find the people so we can gather the evidence we need to lock them up," Lance shrugged. "Not like the stuff we're gathering the illegal way is gonna be used in court anyhow."

Shiro made a face. "Lance has a point."

"I never want to hear those words leave your mouth again."

"That’s just plain rude, mullet."

They turned as the scratching of tires against gravel captured their attention. Drawing them back to their jobs and the fact that the scene was slowly winding down and the building's front was clearing as CSI began filling in to file their reports.

"We should get outta here," Shiro told them. "I don't want the fanboys at CSI bugging me..."

"We can all get in touch with each other?" Keith checked.

"You know, if you wanted my number mullet, you could have just asked."

"I will stab you. Right here. I do not care about the jail time."

"I have yours and Keith's, Hunk has mine and Lance's. We'll be able to sort it out from there," Pidge replied. 

"Tell me whenever you guys have anything," Shiro told them, giving them each a stern look as he and Pidge began making for their squad car again. "And if something happens-"

"We'll let someone know!" Keith broke in, exasperated. "Yes. We get it. Now get lost."

Shiro frowned at him for another moment longer before returning to his squad car. Allowing Pidge to drive as he eased himself into the front seat and enjoyed the ride back to the station.

"Is he always like that?" Hunk asked Keith.

"What? Overprotective?" He replied. "Yes."

"It's almost like he's upset that we saved him," Lance pouted. His lower lip sticking out sullenly. 

"He probably is." Keith nodded. "The man craves death."

Hunk and Lance looked at him. 

"Dude..."

"Don't comment Hunk, me and Shiro have our own ways of coping with things."

"Like drinking!" Lance had brightened.

"I'm not an al-!"

"No I meant do you wanna come out for drinks with us?" Lance clarified, scribbling down his phone number on a scrap of paper. "Next time you’re off rotation? To like talk about the case or just relax or whatever. Hunk and I don't get much time to relax either so I'd be nice."

Keith stared down at the scap of paper in his hands. "Um..."

"Think on it!" Lance was climbing back into the ambulance, Hunk following suit. 

"See you later Keith!"

"Bye mullet!"

A slam as the ambulance doors were pulled shut, and Keith was left alone. Knowing he should be attending to the task of making sure the fire was in no danger of restarting but only able to grip the paper in his hand and grin at the thought of blue eyes, brown skin and bright smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS!!!  
> its been,,,, more than,,,, two weeks,,, i am so sorry.  
> aaaaaaaaaaaa it's been way harder than I thought it would be to find motivation to write!!!  
> but I have another chapter for you guys and I hope you enjoy it because this fic is still going!!!!!!  
> Now im not sure when the next update will be,,, I will try and update as soon as possible aaaaand that could be tomorrow or next week or next month even I don't know but thank you guys sm for sticking with me and being patient~


	9. Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eyyyyy im back!

Keith took a sip of his drink. Letting the fingers of his free hand tap idly against the bartop and wondering just what had possessed him to accept Lance and Hunk's offer for drinks.

He glanced at his watch somewhat anxiously. Almost wishing he was on rotation or busy digging into information to help Shiro and Pidge with their case; anything that would let him dodge away from a night of being social.

Another sip and he was tapping the side of his glass for a refill. Feeling the moments tick by like the hands of the watch were pressing into his skin with every little click.

Movement near the door signaled the arrival of the others, but he didn't turn. Instead nodding silently at the bartender when the man filled his glass again and waiting for the familiar, loud voices of Lance and Hunk.

The voices never came. Instead a brown, perfectly sculpted hand was latching onto the bar; the matching limb waving down the bartender as Lance eased into the stool beside him.

Keith felt his ears redden, thankful for the cover offered by his mop of dark hair as he registered the Hunk's noticeable absence. Having to stop his mind from wantering further the moment he turned and allowed himself to rake his eyes over Lance's lean figure clothed in dark jeans and a loose-fitting tank top.

Lance ordered and received his drink - a rather large margarita - before Keith managed to pull his mind away from the other's exposed skin, shooting Keith a sidelong glance that melted quickly into a sunlit grin. "I didn't think you'd show," he admitted, leaning forward to take a sip of his drink.

Keith's lips pulled down into his signature scowl. "Where's Hunk?" He asked, ignoring the comment.

"I'm hurt, mullet," Lance said with mock outrage, turning in his seat to face Keith; the latter attempted to ignore the light brush of Lance's knees against his thigh when Lance continued. "Aren't I enough?"

Keith looked at him, arching an eyebrow and remaining silent until Lance rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink. "He got caught up with that nurse friend of his. Apparently she might have some information for us so he went to check it out."

"We could have rescheduled," Keith pointed out sullenly. 

"Yes but you're like a reclusive cat. We reschedule and you bail on us."

"You don’t know that-!"

"You were gonna leave within the next five minutes if nobody showed up," Lance cut him off matter of factly, the same devilish smile on his face. "Am I right or am I right?" 

Keith looked away and raised his glass to his lips, not offering another comment as Lance began to laugh. "Knew it!" 

"So, what now?" Keith asked after a moment. "This supposed to be some sort of bonding moment or something?"

Lance raised an eyebrow, not replying for a long moment as he drank more of his margarita. "I mean... We are working on a case that's gonna need a lot of trust. Some bonding moments wouldn't be a bad idea."

Keith attempted to hide the sudden flush brought on by a flurry of increasingly filthy thoughts by shoving his nose into his drink; taking another long sip and attempting to focus on the way it burned on the way down. "And what kind of 'bonding moment' did you have in mind?" He managed to ask, keeping his voice disinterested and signalling for another drink.

"Well, first..." Lance stopped the bartender from refilling Keith's glass, leaning forward a little and giving the man a flirty wink. "How about we get him a long island iced tea, and maybe when you're done you could go set up the karaoke stage?" 

The man blinked at him, and Lance flashed another winning smile."Pretty please?"

A roll of the bartender’s eyes even as his ears turned the slightest shade of pink, and he turned away. Preparing the long island and depositing it in front of Keith before wandering off to ready the stage.

Lance's grin widened, and he wiggled his eyebrows at Keith. "Ever sing karaoke?" He asked mischievously. 

Keith took a hesitant sip of his new drink. Pausing a moment as if contemplating the taste before glancing over at Lance. "Once or twice," he admitted.

Multicolored lights flashed on in the bar's corner over a small stage where speakers, a mic stand, and a karaoke machine stood, and the bar's patrons turned. The first to the stage was a lanky, dark-skinned man with clothes that left nothing to the imagination. 

At the table he had just left, a pretty girl with blonde pigtails and a small man with a cat-ear hat perched on his head, whistled appreciatively. Egging their friend on. 

Lance grinned and sipped at his drink again. "This should be good," he commented, baby blue's flickering to Keith long enough for the grin to shift into a warm smirk before he was looking back to the stage. 

Keith ignored the way the look had shook free the butterflies in his stomach, and turned to look at the stage. His drink in his hand and already nearly halfway gone.

The first notes of a song instantly recognizable by everyone in the bar began once the man had the mic in his hands. Lance gave a loud whistle, already nodding his head along; Keith bit his lip to keep himself from singing along under his breath once the man began This Love by Maroon 5. 

"He's not half bad," Lance's voice close to his ear had Keith jumping in his seat. Craning around to glare at the other man as Lance simply grinned. "Right?"

Keith let out a grouchy little huff before nodding his reluctant agreement. "I guess not..." He muttered.

"What should I sing?" Lance asked him. "Sugar by maroon 5 is good but i don't wanna have two of their songs in a row..."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out when you go up there," Keith replied, finishing his long island and staring at his empty glass a moment before motioning for a refill from the bartender; hoping Lance didn't notice but knowing he had by the general feeling of that grin on his back. 

"I shouldn't be enabling your alcohol problem," Lance told him after a moment. Not sounding overly concerned as the music from the first performance died down and was met with raucous applause. 

Keith tried to ignore the faint feeling of weightlessness beginning to take over his limbs, and eyed him as he took another drink. "We're both adults, no need to worry." 

Lance didn't respond, and turned away. Making for the stage and leaving Keith a rather handsome picture of his retreating form as Keith thought:  _ Did he just blush? _

Lance took the stage before Keith could think of much else. Watching the other man squint as he scrolled through available song choices. Another drink, and Keith was admiring how Lance's face lit up beneath the lights as he seemed to find a song he liked. 

He pressed play, and held the mic. Waiting as a soft guitar began to strum from the speakers. The melody slowly picking up until a sudden rif led into Lance doing something Keith recognized as artist intros that usually came before rap songs - though he didn't recognize any of the artists.

"Sí, sabes que ya llevo un rato mirándote..." 

"Jesus fucking christ." Keith took a large drink from his now refilled long island to calm the sudden flush at hearing the spanish roll off of Lance's lips amidst soft cheers of bar-goers who seemed to recognize the song. 

"Tú, tú eres el imán y yo soy el metal 

Me voy acercando y voy armando el plan 

Solo con pensarlo se acelera el pulso, Oh yeah

Ya, ya me está gustando más de lo normal 

Todos mis sentidos van pidiendo más 

Esto hay que tomarlo sin ningún apuro"

Lance didn't give Keith much time to regain his composure, already moving onto the next verse. Singing like he owned the stage and drawing out more cheers; the people within the bar clapping along by the time Lance reached what Keith assumed was the chorus:

"Despacito.

Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito.

Deja que te diga cosas al oído.

Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo.."

Keith heard himself cheer Lance on, not realizing he had actually done it until Lance glanced in his direction with a grin and continued to sing. 

Keith's face flushed again, partly from the drinks, and he took another sip. Bobbing his head along and marveling at the number of people within the bar who seemed familiar with the song. 

There was a small lull in the music just as Lance's singing seemed to reach it's peak, and a number of people held their breath just as Lance delved headfirst into a rap without even having to glance at the karaoke screen:

"Si te pido un beso ven dámelo 

Yo sé que estás pensándolo 

Llevo tiempo intentándolo 

Mami, esto es dando y dándolo 

Sabes que tu corazón conmigo te hace bom, bom 

Sabes que esa beba está buscando de mi bom, bom 

Ven prueba de mi boca para ver cómo te sabe 

Quiero, quiero, quiero ver cuánto amor a ti te cabe 

Yo no tengo prisa, yo me quiero dar el viaje 

Empecemos lento, después salvaje

Pasito a pasito, suave suavecito 

Nos vamos pegando poquito a poquito 

Cuando tú me besas con esa destreza 

Veo que eres malicia con delicadeza

Pasito a pasito, suave suavecito 

Nos vamos pegando, poquito a poquito 

Y es que esa belleza es un rompecabezas 

Pero pa montarlo aquí tengo la pieza"

The bar cheered, laughing and clapping along with more vigor as Lance resumed the normal flow of the song. Placing his hand on his chest and singing with the flair of a performer until the very end. Those in the bar who knew the song beginning to sing the chorus just at the end, cheering in between lines as if they were at a party as Lance held out the microphone towards the crowd.

Lance laughed at the end, soaking in the whistles and cheers and offering a bow before stepping down from the stage and making back for the bar to sit beside Keith. 

Keith took another sip to keep from having to speak the moment Lance sat back down. Finally setting his glass back down with a casual: "I didn't know you spoke spanish."

Lance shrugged, still flushed and grinning from being up on the little stage as he drank from his margarita glass. "I'm cuban," he replied. "And I know some broken conversational spanish, but when you have a decent grasp on a language learning songs isn't too hard." He paused, tapping at the bar with his fingers. "I'm... guessing you don't know spanish?" He said finally

"Nope. Why?"

"No reason, no reason."

A confused nod from Keith, who was beginning to feel the effects of his drinking judging from the glances he kept shooting at the stage.

Lance nudged him. "Go on," he told him. "Nobody's up there."

Keith waved the suggestion away and took another drink. "I can't sing," he said. "I'd sound like a screeching cat up there."

"Listen, the point of karaoke isn't to sound good, it's to get drunk and sing to dumb songs while making a fool of yourself."

"You didn't make a fool of yourself, the entire place was cheering," Keith pointed out.

Lance looked him over. "So I noticed. Now go on!"

Keith made a face. Sipping at his glass one more time before hauling himself from his stool with mock strain and making his way towards the stage.

He could feel the eyes of the bar's patrons following him as he hopped up onto the stage. Frowning down at the little karaoke machine's screen and having to reach up to flick a strand of stubborn hair from his eyes. 

The hair fell back just as his eyes fell on a single song title, and Keith felt himself begin to grin. He glanced up towards the bar just as he began to read for the machine's "select" button. Catching Lance's eye and wondering if the slightly dazed expression on the other's face was just the liquor making him see things. 

The music started before he could think about it any further. And almost instantly the bar became flooded with laughing cheers and whistles.

Keith began to tap his foot, holding the microphone in one hand and nodding his head along to the over energetic 80's beat. A slight frown had his lips pulling into a confused pout, his eyebrows scrunching together before the lyrics finally began and he opened his mouth to begin singing.

"Where have all the good men gone

And where are all the gods?

Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?

Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?

Late at night I toss and I turn

And I dream of what I need"

The whistles continued even amidst his wobbly, unsure voice singing just off-key.

He looked towards Lance again, emboldened by the other's absolutely delighted expression and belting out the beginning of the chorus.

 

"I need a hero!"

I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!"

 

The sudden idea popping into his head as he continued has his grin widening.

 

"I need a Shiro!" He could have sworn he heard Lance cackling from across the bar, and Keith put on an air of mock distress just for him as he continued; channeling the fawning of Shiro's rabid fans as he performed with the alcohol in his system to keep him going.

 

"I'm holding out for a Shiro 'til the morning light!

He's gotta be sure

And it's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life!"

A few of the patrons had begun laughing at the faux sincerity, and Keith recognized the definitive posture of off-duty police officers, realized they must be Shiro's coworkers.

Keith laughed a little into the mic, sweeping his eyes over the next set of lyrics and feeling the tug of his thoughts turning decidedly more innapropriate. His gaze flicked to Lance again, and he tugged at his lower lip with his teeth for a moment before he could stop himself.

He pushed the sudden flurry of nerves that came with the act into the furthest reaches of his mind and began singing again, abandoning his teasing towards his absent friend.

"Somewhere after midnight

In my wildest fantasy..." 

_ Was Lance blushing as he buried his nose into another margarita? _

"Somewhere just beyond my reach

There's someone reaching back for me..."

No, Keith was just seeing things again...  _ but what if I could  _ make _ him blush? _

"Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat

It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet!"

_ Fuck it. _

"I need a hero!" Keith was pointing at Lance now, and the other coughed a little into his drink. Sputtering on the liquor with surprise and having to set his glass down. Keith grinned.

"I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!" Keith was snickering at the expression on Lance's face; a complex mixture of shock, enjoyment, and something Keith couldn't quite place.

"I need a hero! 

I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light

He's gotta be sure

And it's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life!"

The bar patrons began to clap, and Keith giggled a little to himself. Getting into the feel of the rest of the song and finishing with a flourish when it ended amidst the cheers.

He bowed twice, laughing on his way down for a third and having to stop himself from teetering off the stage. He righted himself quickly, and hopped down to the floor. Walking back to the bar with a spring in his step that had a little too much to do with his night's drinks.

Keith slipped easily back into his seat. Quickly downing the what was left of his second long island and waving the bartender down for a third.

Lance laughed a little weakly. "Are you sure you're up for another?" He asked, fingers wrapped tightly around the stem of his margarita glass.

Keith nodded and waved his concern away. "Yep!" he replied cheerfully, changing topics quickly to ask, "How'd I do?"

A slight laugh from Lance. "I wasn't expecting that out of you, I'll be honest," he admitted.

Keith beamed, and Lance quickly took another drink from his glass. Stopping the bartender before the man could walk away from refilling Keith's to ask for one of his own.

Keith was looking around, a slight frown pulling down the corners of his mouth. "Can Hunk sing? I feel like he would've been great up there."

Lance nodded vigorously. "Yeah he's got an insane set of pipes," he replied, pausing a moment as if contemplating something before finally breaking down to ask: "So wassup with you and Shiro anyway?"

Keith looked at him, the frown deepening. "I'm sorry?"

"Like... you know... you two are really close. Did you two...?"

"Oh my god no ew." Keith's face fell, and he scrunched his nose. Taking a long drink before adding, "I mean yeah he's hot as hell but we've known each other since we were kids; he might as well be my brother, ya know?"

"Okay cool." Another sip of his drink and Lance was drumming his fingers against the bar again, looking slightly confused as if he were arguing with his own thoughts.

"Why do you ask?" Keith tilted his head to the side, turning in his seat to lean back against the bar. A small portion of himself was nagging him to stop drinking; he shooed it away and took another drink. 

"Hmm?" Lance's voice seemed to crack just slightly at Keith's question; he cleared his throat and did his best not to look caught off guard. 

"Why do you ask?" Keith repeated, tilting his head to the side again.

"Oh!" Lance laughed a little and waved the question away. "Just wanted to know how you of all people know someone who's basically a legend is all."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Keith's expression soured, and he crossed his arms defensively at the goading lilt to Lance's voice.

Lance continued with a careless shrug. "Just saying you don't really live up to the hype of his crew, hotshot," he replied, leaning to take a long sip of his drink. "I mean Shiro's great and Allura is basically an Amazon who's been gifted to us by the gods-"

"Wonder Woman, nice"

"Thank you- and even that police captain Coran is great. He's like a crazy uncle."

"Well what about me then?" Keith demanded, turning back in his seat so he was facing the bar and setting down his drink. 

"We met because you kept trying to get yourself killed in literally every fire you were sent out to."

"And?"

"You're a mess." Lance blinked at him seriously."And i'm not even talking about the death wish thing like i'm sorry but you need a haircut and a skincare routine please you are killing me here."

"What's wrong with my skin?"

"I can see your pores!" Lance was reaching towards Keith's face, attempting to cup his cheeks in his hands. "Please, Keith i'm dying let me do a facemask on you okay you won't regret it."

"No don't touch me."

"Keith stop i'm only trying to help."

"Don't touch my face your hands are cold."

"Keith please."

"I'm going to break your fingers."

Lance fell back with a huff and a roll of his eyes. Looking back in Keith's direction to fasten those baby blues on Keith's hair. "Okay but at least let me-"

"Not happening."

"You have a mullet! Nobody has mullets anymore alright like you could be five hundred feet away and down a cliff in the middle of the night and i'd recognize that mullet anywhere."

"Why do I feel like if Hunk were here he'd be talking about fourth wall breaks again?"

"I have no idea but he would be saying something like that right now wouldn't he?"

"Right?"

A pause. "Keith let me cut your hair."

"Fuck off Lance."

"Rude."

The silence drew out as they both took long drinks from their respective glasses. Barely noticing the hum of music starting up as another patron took to the karaoke stage before suddenly Keith was speaking up again. "You have a crush on Shiro don't you?"

Lance nearly inhaled a portion of his drink. Having to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from spitting it out, and beginning to cough the moment he managed to get it all down. "You think I what now?" He asked, voice rasping a little.

Keith shrugged and rolled his straw between his teeth, the plastic beginning to look as if it were ready to break. "You have a thing for Shiro," he said. "Either that or you're one helluva fanboy. I'm leaning towards the former though."

Lance was waving the assumption away even before Keith had finished. "I don't like Shiro. Not like that I mean sure I idolize him but that's as far as it goes. And even if i did he's dating Allura anyway and plus we're like... working with him? Also he's way outta my league and-"

"You're fucking gorgeous, shut up."

Lance stopped. Blinking a little as he processed what Keith had said before turning to look at him. "I'm sorry what was that?"

"You heard me." Keith took another sip. Setting it down for half a second before picking it up to take another drink only for Lance to reach out and pull it from his fingers. 

"You've had enough."

"Nah I'm fine."

"Yeah you ar-" Lance stopped, closing his eyes for a long moment and feeling Keith looking at him with brows arched in mild surprise. "Forget I said that, now no more drinking for you." He finally managed to pry the drink from Keith's hands, and set it down on the bar. Reaching into his pocket to fish out a handful of bills while Keith eyed him thoughtfully. 

"What are your plans for the rest of the night?"

"Keith no, I'm taking you home."

"You should come in with me..." The sentence ended in a fit of laughter, and he watched as Lance's lips pursed into a fine line.

"And you should really stop tempting me."

"That's not gonna happen."

"You are way too drunk right now, let’s go." Lance tossed the cash onto the bar. Reaching over to smack Keith's hand away from the last of the long island and instead pulling him to his feet.

Keith looked up at him. "You're taller than me," he observed, trying his damndest not to stumble as Lance helped him walk through the bar. 

"Yes I am, hotshot."

A firm nod from Keith. "I like tall guys."

"You are not helping anything right now."

"Wrong, I'm helping me to hopefully get laid and you're not cooperating."

"You are drunk."

"That implies that you'd be more than happy to do this if I were sober."

"Don't make me think about my feelings right now lets just get you in a car." Lance waved down a cab, waiting for the nearest driver to pull up beside them and depositing Keith gracelessly into the back seat. "Buckle up."

"You do it."

"Absolutely not. No." Lance slammed the door shut, and Keith giggled at the sight of Lance walking towards the opposite side while running a hand raggedly through his hair. He clicked his seatbelt shut, grinning at the cab driver when the man glanced at him in the rearview before turning to greet lance as the other slipped into the car beside him. 

He didn't pay much attention to the cab driver asking for directions. Blearily mumbling his address when Lance nudged his shoulder and listening to Lance repeat it for the driver to hear. 

He didn't realize the car had begun to move for a long moment. Instead letting out a slightly shocked gasp when he lifted his head to peer out the window and found himself nowhere near the bar.

"You're not gonna throw up are you?" Lance checked, looking slightly buzzed himself.

"Nah..." Keith shook his head forcefully, sending his hair flying. "I mean... I don't think so but we'll see where the night takes us."

"Takes you," Lance corrected.

"Come onnnn." Keith was almost pouting. 

"Keith what are you doing?"

"Tryna get dicked down but you're not paying attention apparently."

Lance choked on the response already ready on his tongue. Instead falling into another coughing fit that ended with his hands resting firmly in his hands. "Keith please."

"Fine fine, your loss."

"Please tell me you're not gonna remember these conversations," Lance groaned, head still in his hands.

"It's give or take."

"Heck."

The cab driver pulled to a stop in front of Keith's building, and the drunk in question looked out the window. "Wanna help me to my apartment?" He asked Lance, smiling in a way that was the furthest thing from innocent. 

"I know I should, but I don't trust anything right now."

Keith waved him off and opened the car door. "Fine, do what you want." He moved as if to exit the car, pausing a moment just after swinging his feet down to the pavement and instead leaning back in.

"Hey Lance?"

Lance lifted his head from his hands. "What no-"

Keith's hand fisted the collar of Lance's shirt, pulling him into a kiss that hardly lasted longer than three seconds before letting go. "Thanks for the drinks." Lance was blushing in the low light, and Keith grinned. Slipping from the back of the cab and slamming shut the door before he could react.

Lance watched him go through the window. Blinking rapidly and lifting a hand to his lips.

He swallowed hard before finally looking back to the cab driver. "I'll uh..." He cleared his throat. "Yeah I need to go home." Lance gave the tired man his address before the temptation to pay and follow Keith up into the building could grow. Sitting back against his seat and reminding himself to never drink again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wassup im back!!!
> 
> enjoy the new chapter guys!!! I'll return,,,, eventually,,,, lmao thank you guys for sticking around thru all of this like damn u the real mvp
> 
>  
> 
> (also i've seen some mentions about possible fic requests? so if you'd like me to write smth swing by my tumblr and dm or send me an ask on there. ficlets i'll be 100% fine with writing for u guys if u send me an ask for it but full length fics i do treat like commissions)


	10. Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eyyyyy I'm back yo!  
> and uh,,, yeah so anyone notice the changes in the tags?  
> i finally caved my dudes,,, whoops

Lance groaned. Rolling over and expecting to find more of his bed only to plop face first onto his plush blue area rug; his legs tangled up in the blanket he usually kept on his living room couch for exactly this reason. 

He groaned again, pressing his face deeper into the comforting softness before the sudden image of dirt and dust infiltrating his pores had him scrambling back up onto the relative safety of the couch. 

A pout had his lips tugging downwards into a frown as he resisted the urge to touch his face, knowing with a sinking feeling in his gut that he was bound straight for a fresh crop of breakouts and that he had his work cut out for him if he wanted to fend them off. 

He let himself rest his head back on the couch for a moment. Hoping to alleviate the sudden pounding in his head and attempting to sift through the memories of the night before. 

Usually he was able to at least make it to his bed after going out; the blanket on the couch was usually reserved to emergencies like when Hunk decides to crash and refuses to share the bed on account of Lance’s apparent ice cube feet or-

Lance sat up. A hand lifting unconsciously to his lips as his face reddened. Another groan escaped him just as his face fell with a plop into his hands; his worries about acne vanishing for the moment in the wake of the memories from the night before resurfacing. 

“How the heck did I manage to-”

“Lance!” He lifted his head up, swiveling it towards the door at the sound of good-natured knocking and a familiar voice. “You in there buddy I have good news! I- I mean I think I have good news? You know I’m not sure but it is news!”

Lance didn’t bother to stand. Instead blinking owlishly at the door as the key rattled in the lock and Hunk stepped into his apartment. “Dude why’d you sleep on the couch?” Hunk asked, kicking the door shut behind him.

Lance was a moment to slow in beginning his response, and Hunk narrowed his eyes. “Hangover?” He guessed. “You and Keith drink too much?” 

A rough cough. “Uh- y-yeah. Just a bit,” Lance nodded, grabbing his phone from where it rested on his coffee table and standing. 

Hunk pointed at him absently, looking towards the kitchen. “One hangover cure breakfast coming right up,” he nodded. “I’ll fill you in while I cook; get yourself some OJ from the fridge.”

“Hunk… buddy… you do know this is my apartment?”

“Yeah but I basically live here anyway. I have the spare key.”

“You crash on the couch sometimes that doesn’t mean you live here.”

“It’s because I don’t feel like heading home usually,” Hunk nodded sagely, grasping a frying pan from a cupboard. “Too far.”

“Hunk you live across the hall.”

“Yeah.” Hunk was rifling through Lance’s fridge, grasping a carton of orange juice and pouring Lance a glass before going back to preparing breakfast. “You should just invite me to move in already.”

“You won’t even sleep in the same bed as me!” Lance objected, his glass halfway to his lips and dangerously close to spilling onto the bar counter that served as the apartment’s eating space. 

“That’s because your feet are cold.”

Lance rolled his eyes, pouting behind his glass as he took a drink before setting it down moodily and checking his phone to find zero messages. His pout deepened and he flung his phone a few inches away. “What kind of info did you have anyway?” He asked finally, mood seeming to brighten instantly. 

Hunk held the frying pan away from him as he tossed a few strips of bacon into it, watching it sizzle before setting it back down onto the stove’s flame. “Well, Shay and I were talking about the different patients she’s seen ever since I asked her to keep an eye out for certain symptoms and all that. She couldn’t tell me much, confidentiality and all that but uh- Lance… buddy… You alright over there?” Hunk stopped, a frown furrowing his brows with concern at the realization that Lance had been checking his phone somewhat moodily every few seconds since he had begun talking. 

Lance set his phone down with the screen facing the counter and leaned forward. An easy smile lighting up his features as if in apology. “Yep! Keep going.” 

Hunk eyed him a moment. “Are you waiting for a text from Pidge or Shiro about something?” He asked. “You never hover over your phone like that.” More sizzling as he tossed something into the pan along with the bacon had Lance’s stomach growling. 

He glanced down at his phone again, a nervous bout of laughter escaping from between his lips before he could stop it and finding himself unable to reply. 

Hunk nodded, changing the topic as easily as he flipped whatever it was he had begun concocting in the frying pan. “Pidge and I have been working to try and track that call from Matt,” he told him. “We keep hitting dead ends, though. With my help Pidge has gotten further than they did that first night they tried tracing the call but we’re still not any closer to figuring out where Matt is.” 

Lance’s interest seemed to have been piqued by that, and Hunk nodded approvingly; happy to have gotten that moody crease from between the other’s brows. “Do you guys know how he’s getting around you so easily at least?” Lance asked. 

Hunk shook his head, turning away from the pan on the stove to grasp two plates from a nearby cabinet. “Pidge is more annoyed about that than I thought they’d be, actually.” he admitted. “Apparently Matt never used to be able to run circles around them when it came to this kind of thing, so being shown up like this is really grating on them.” 

Lance laughed, wincing a little at the sudden throbbing of his head but managing to push it aside when Hunk slid a plate in front of him and told him to dig in. He didn’t recognize what it was on the plate, but he wasted no time in indulging on the other’s cooking. “Sibling rivalries don’t go away,” Lance said finally around a mouthful of food. “Even when one of the siblings is missing and hiding out from a deadly mafia syndicate.” He took a few more bites, chewing thoughtfully before frowning. “You ever think that one of the Galra taught him how to work around tech while Matt was undercover?” Lance asked Hunk suddenly. 

Hunk nodded. “That’s what I said too,” he replied. “And yesterday Shay mentioned treating this guy the other day for the same kind of symptoms that we had asked her to watch out for; except he seemed to know more about how to get himself over the worst of it than she did, and he was decked out in some expensive tech. She saw an expensive-looking kind of smartwatch and phone that she didn’t even recognized and he was carrying this tablet that she said he was using to look at a hologram 3D model of some building when she first walked into the room to see him. Shay said he closed out of it almost as soon as the door opened so she only saw a glimpse of it and she was smart enough to play dumb and act like she hadn’t seen anything.”

Lance had furrowed his brows, using his fork to toy with the remnants of the food on his plate. “Did she tell you what he looked like?”

“She wouldn’t, but she gave me the date and time he came in and was seen so me and Pidge can get the information.” Hunk cocked his head to the side at Lance’s expression. “Why?”

“There was…” Lance shook his head. “I don’t know there were these people last night at the bar Keith and I went to. One of them went up to sing karaoke-”

“You guys sang karaoke without me?” Hunk demanded, sounding hurt.

“Dude… buddy… I’m sorry but you ditched us and for more reasons than one I’m the  one here who gets to be upset,” he waved away Hunk’s confused expression, ”I’ll fill you in later. But what I was trying to say is that there were two other people with the guy who went up to sing. This girl with blonde pigtails and this smaller guy….”   


Hunk leaned forward against the counter, beginning to steal scraps from Lance’s plate. “Yeah? And?”

“All three of them looked like they might’ve been high and the small guy was recording his friend’s performance with an expensive looking phone if i’m remembering right… I don’t think I recognized the brand either.”

Hunk left off stealing scraps, letting his fork tap absently against the side of Lance’s plate. “Want me to call Pidge?” He asked finally. 

A nod from Lance. “Yep.”   


“On it, you go get cleaned up, you smell like margaritas and dirty cabs.”

Lance laughed a little uneasily, already in the process of stripping off his shirt as he made for the bathroom. “Buddy… I have a story for you when I’m done…”

Hunk eyed him as he went. “Mmmhmm… alright… tell me later…” His attention was finally pulled away from Lance’s retreating figure by the slight buzz of Lance’s phone from where it sat on the counter. “You got a text!” He called, reaching for the phone and beginning towards the bathroom; not thinking twice about unlocking Lance’s phone and tapping on the new message. 

“It’s from Keith,” he added, poking his head into the bathroom just as Lance cut on the shower.

Lance yelped, spinning on one foot and bounding forward to snatch his phone from Hunk’s hand. “Don’t read i-”   


Hunk was blinking down at Lance’s phone. Face unreadable for a moment before his eyes finally swung up to Lance. “What did you  _ do _ ?” 

“What did he say?”

Hunk handed back the phone, watching Lance’s face closely as he read and re-read the text a thousand times over:

_ Sorry for being such an idiot. I shouldn’t have acted like that. _

“Oh my god.” Lance leaned forward, resting his forehead against Hunk’s chest and trying to focus on the comforting feeling of Hunk’s hand in his hair. 

The two of them were silent for a moment, the only sound being the background noise of the shower running and filling the bathroom with steam before Hunk finally spoke again. “But seriously, what did you do?” 

Lance groaned into his chest. “Turned him down because he was drunk and coming on to me.”

Hunk snorted. “Seriously?”

“He was  _ very _ drunk.”

A pause. “How drunk?” 

“He invited me up to his apartment.”

“Oh snap.”

“Right?”

Hunk patted his head again. “You should have waited for me to be there before making a move on him.” he chastised lightly. 

“I didn’t-!” Lance broke off, feeling Hunk struggling not to laugh and pulling away. “Alright help me text him back,” he said instead. 

Hunk took the phone from Lance’s hands. “Just say that it’s fine and you hope his hangover isn’t too bad.”

“Won’t that come off as me being uninterested?”

“I’m pretty sure you weren’t acting uninterested last night.”

“Yeah but what if he just thinks that was the alcohol in me talking - or what if all of that from him was just the alcohol talking I mean who knows if he’s even into me Hunk!”

“Dude what? You’re great and hot, who wouldn’t be into you?”

“The pretty firefighter who got drunk and kissed me in the back of a cab last night to be petty because I wouldn’t sleep with him?”

“Nah I’m pretty sure he’s into you.” Hunk motioned towards Lance’s phone. “So text him back otherwise neither of us are gonna get anywhere with this guy.”

Lance was already clicking away at his phone. “Oh so now you finally admit you’re into him…” he muttered. 

“He’s cute,” Hunk shrugged. “And angry. Like a kitten except not really because im not a furry.”   


“Stop… stop talking…”

“Only if you finish texting him.”

Lance shoved his phone back into Hunk’s hands. “I did! Happy?”

Hunk beamed at him. “Yes. Now go shower you still smell.” He shooed Lance towards the shower, turning away from the bathroom with Lance’s phone still in his hands and wandering back towards the living room. “Be ready to leave in fifteen!” He called back. “I’m calling Pidge!”

“I’ve never taken a fifteen minute shower in my  _ life _ Hunk Garett!” Lance called back from the bathroom. 

“You have thirty minutes then!”

“My beauty regime takes forty!”

“Lance McClain I’m giving you an hour!”

“That’s cruel and you know it!”

“Yes I do!” Hunk was already dialing Pidge’s number from Lance’s phone, smiling at the outraged flurry of extremely broken spanish coming from the bathroom; Lance’s attempt to be threatening despite his very limited knowledge of the language. “Be quiet I’m on the phone!” He called finally, hearing the spanish die down to quiet muttering that was easily drowned out by the water just as Pidge picked up on the other end of the line. 

“Pigeon!” Hunk announced cheerfully, smiling at the groan he was greeted with and realizing that Pidge must have just woken up. “Is it your day off?” 

“More or less…” Pidge’s voice was scratchy and heavy with sleep. “I fell asleep in the captain’s office again.”

Hunk made a face though he knew they couldn’t see it. “You need to get some actual sleep soon,” he told them. “But not now though, I actually have something we need to look into; it could help us with Matt.”

Pidge’s voice seemed to change within seconds. “What do you have for me?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo! I got another chapter done! and its a plot-y chapter! kinda,,, sorta,,, also yeah so now its an ot3 thing,,,, tbh i've been trying to resist turning this fic into a hunk/lance/keith fic since the beginning but i guess i finally caved so from here on out the shippy stuff is gonna be less implied "wtf r u doing Quinn this is supposed to be a klance fic" and more "fuck it heres an ot3" so  
> sorry for the sudden change!  
> dont hate me too much >.<

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! I've started another Voltron fic bc I couldn't resist!!!
> 
> This is based off of some fanart I saw [Here](http://jackalopes-vld.tumblr.com/post/156554695442/firefighter-keith-was-all-the-prompt-needed-for) by a really amazing fanartist and it kinda... spun out of control... from there....
> 
> Anyhow I hope you enjoy it!!!
> 
> Oh! Stop by my [Tumblr](http://haunted-ace-space.tumblr.com/) and maybe we can scream about voltron together~


End file.
